Unfinished business
by LaCinderel
Summary: No copyright infringement intended, just my take on what season 4 could have been about if the show hadn't gotten cancelled. Spoilers for all of season 3, and you'll notice I've rewritten the series finale - but that is for plot reasons only, so fear not!
1. Chapter 1

Unfinished business

Chapter one

Dani watched through the window in the V3 lounge as Connor walked towards the plane he thought he was going to fly off on. He seemed completely unaware of all the FBI agents present at the airport and even on the plane. Their confrontation had gone better than she had expected, with Connor admitting to slipping performance enhancement drugs to V3 athletes and convincing Kansas City to give Hutch another shot at a pro baseball career. Dani sighed, took her voice recorder out of her pocket and clutched it in her hand. After the week she'd had, this victory was a welcome one. The vacation she had planned, however, was even more welcome. She just didn't want to think about V3, and anything or anyone associated with the agency anymore. A fresh start was what she wanted – no, what she needed – and Jeannette would help her figure out where and how she could make that. Only a few more hours and she would be on a commercial flight to Barcelona. But before she could go home and pack, there was one more confrontation witing. And if she wasn't mistaken, it was about to take place.

The door behind her opened and footsteps approached. He was here. She didn't need to turn around or to even hear his voice. Her body and mind were now so attuned to him, that she would always know when he was near. That used to be different in the past. He used to scare her back then, just popping up out of the blue everywhere, even in her own car…

"Dani? You allright there?" A hand touched her shoulder, and she flinched away from it.

"I'm fine, Nico." She turned around to face him. His eyes revealed nothing.

"You don't look fine."

"Ha. Wonder why that is?"

"Dani…"

"No. I don't wanna hear it. I was just waiting to give you this," she held out the hand with the recorder in it, "And then I'm going home to pack my suitcase."

"You're – leaving? Where?"

"None of your business. But I'll tell you this: it won't be Dallas." She pushed the recorder at his chest and turned to the door, trying not to feel the electricity that had sparked the moment she had touched him.

Behind her, she heard his voice: "I meant what I said the other night, Dani. You know what kind of man I am. And you're still the only one alive who really knows me. Not even Alex knows me like you do."

"And I meant what I said to you, months ago: a lie by omission is still a lie. Goodbye, Nico." Dani was proud of her steady voice as she walked through the door, into the too bright sunlight.

Nico fisted his hands and forced himself to look the other way, to stop himself from following her. She clearly didn't want him to. Besides, he had other business to attend to. He couldn't help smiling a little as he looked at the voice recorder in his hand. She had handled Connor very well, getting a confession out of him and guilting him into doing right by Hutch to boot. But Nico wasn't really suprised. After all, that's what she did, getting people to open up. Although she didn't believe it, she had done it to him too, since day one. She had managed to get inside his head and his heart like no one but Marshall ever had. Not even Gabrielle. Or Alex, for that matter. Why the hell hadn't he told her about Alex before, when he still had the chance? He shook his head. No use in going there now. He had to find agent Bennett, so they could wrap things up. The sooner Connor was in custody, the better for everyone involved. And when that was done? What would he do? Where would he go? He shrugged. Remained to be seen… But it wouldn't be Dallas.

A/N: This is my first fanfic. It's also my first ever story to be written in English (I'm Dutch, but I read a lot of English books). Please let me know what you think, and if I should continue.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N 1: I'm still blushing because of some of the compliments I got on chapter 1. And very glad to see that I'm not the only one who thought that the network and the writers left us hanging and that there was more to explore (although I am also grateful that they provided us with more of an ending than some other shows have gotten). Thank you for your encouragement! My intention with this story is to write sort of an unofficial 4th season for this great show. So 10 chapters at least, hopefully even more (there were, after all, 16 episodes in season 2 and 38 episodes in total). Ambitious? Yes, and I'm not sure if I can do it. But if I can't, I will at least provide closure on the situation between Dani & Nico, I can promise you that!**

Chapter two

_One month later_

Weird how everything always seemed to look the same, yet somehow different when you came back home after a vacation, Dani pondered as she looked around her kitchen while eating the last pieces of her breakfast. She had arrived home last night, exhausted after the long flight that followed her month of fun and Spanish sun with Jeannette. She put her fork down, stretched and sighed. Yes, the vacation had been just what the doctor ordered. She felt… not happy, but at least better than she had in… Well, a little over a month. Her eyes darted to the stairs, and she remembered the last time she'd been really happy.

"_I wanted to make sure that, you know, that last night wasn't a dream…"_

"_Would this refresh your memory?" He closed the distance between them and kissed her tenderly…_

Whoa, hold it right there! She was _not_ gonna go there. That was in the past now. She had put it behind her, thanks to long talks with Jeanette and a little help from Augustos well-stocked wine cellar. She glared at the staircase, reminding herself of the dangers of euphoric recall.

"_You know what kind of man I am…"_

Shut up already, she ordered the voice in her head. She had other things to think about, important things. Such as her career. When she had been in Barcelona, the story about V3 and Connor MacLane had broken worldwide. And, as a certain person had predicted, it had become one of the biggest sports scandals in history. As a result, V3 had been shut down. And so Dani was now officially out of a job. She sould be talking to her contacts, putting feelers out to sports teams and talent agencies… Anything but sitting around moping about happier times! So, who to call first?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of someone coming down the stairs. She looked up to find a sleepy-looking Lindsay smiling at her.

"Hi mom, did you save me some breakfast?"

"Morning, Linds. I'll cook you something up while you hit the shower."

"Thanks mom!" Lindsay started to go back upstairs, but then came back. "So, ah… How about having a girl's night this friday?"

Dani smiled, pleasantly surprised. She had thought Lindsay, as usual, would want to spend her friday night with friends. "Sure, honey, that'd be great!"

"Yeah, well, we have a lot of catching up to do, right?"

"That we do. Now hurry up, or there won't be time for breakfast!"

Dani's phone buzzed insistently, and she huffed. Of course she had her arms full of groceries, and of course she would be too late to pick the darn phone up. She put the bags down on the counter and reached for the phone. 'Blocked', read the display, and she frowned, feeling an uncomfortable sense of déja vu… Before she could decide whether or not to pick up, the buzzing stopped and the call went to voicemail. Just as well, she thought, and went to pick up the groceries. But then the phone buzzed again, this time signaling a text. She sighed and looked at the display again. Apparently there was a new voicemail message. It would have to wait, there were groceries to put away.

_This has got to stop, Santino_, she scolded herself while she began putting away groceries. _Just because the number was blocked, doesn't mean it was him! After all, why would he call? You made it very clear that you didn't want him to. And he seems to be fine with that so far…_ The phone buzzed again, to remind her that she had ignored the incoming text. "Oh, allright already!" she muttered. She picked up the phone and dialed voicemail. She held her breath until a pleasant, but unfamiliar voice sounded in her ear.

"Dr. Santino, this is Naomi Perkins at SBG Management. I'm calling on behalf of Miss Abigail Bruce, who would like to set up an appointment with you. Would you please get back to me as soon as you possibly can? Thank you in advance!" The woman rattled off a phone number, but Dani was too dumbfounded at first to write it down. Abby Bruce? What could she possibly want? Dani hadn't seen or spoken to her since the day that Connor had announced that V3 had taken over SBG Management. And she'd had questions ever since, especially on the subject of Abby's loyalties. And now the woman was calling her to set up some kind of appointment? Dani replayed the message, this time with pen and paper ready to jot down the phone number. There was only one way to find out what Abby wanted, and she had to admit her curiosity was piqued.

"Dr. Santino, I'm so glad you could make it on such short notice," Abby Bruce looked composed and stylish as always, as she came walking towards Dani with a warm smile on her face.

"Hello, Miss Bruce." Dani's own smile was more of the polite than of the warm variety.

"Please, call me Abby. Shall we go to my office?"

"Sure, lead the way."

As she followed Abby, Dani looked around and couldn't help but notice that SBG Management had taken quite a different approach than V3, at least where office decoration was concerned. Instead of shiny epoxy floors and lots of chrome and glass, there were lush carpets and hardwood doors. The hallways had been softly lit and the walls were decorated with colorful, sports-themed photographs that contrasted with the nature colours of the overall decor. In the reception area there were stylish soft couches instead of designer chairs. The resulting atmosphere was elegant and classy, yet cozy and warm.

Dani was surprised to find she actually felt… at home in this office building, a feeling she had never once had at V3. Abby opened a door at the end of the hallway and motioned for Dani to enter a roomy, light office with pale blue walls much like the ones in Dani's own home office. She offered Dani a seat at a small conference table in the corner. "Would you like tea? Coffee?"

"Um, coffee, please."

Abby walked over to her desk and picked up the phone. "Naomi? Could you get us two coffee in here? Thank you! Coming right up," she said to Dani.

"Great. So, Abby, how can I help you?"

"Ah, you don't like to chitchat, do you, Dr. Santino?"

"Oh, I like to chitchat just fine. But, you know, last time I was invited to a talent agency for a 'chat' with the owner – well, let's just say it didn't work out so well in the end. As you are well aware."

"Yes, I certainly am aware of that. Very well then, the reason I have invited you here, doctor…" Abby was interrupted by a discrete knock on the door. A pretty brunette walked in and placed a tray loaded with two cups of coffee and a plate of cookies on the conference table. "Thanks, Naomi. Oh – how's your mom doing, by the way?"

"She's getting better every day, actually. Who do you think made the cookies?" the brunette said, and smiled.

"Well, that's good to hear. And tell her thanks. Dr. Santino, you have to try these. Naomi's mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies you have ever tasted." Abby offered her the plate as Naomi walked out the door again.

Dani accepted the treat and took a bite. "Oh, yes, these are delicious." She finished the cookie and looked at Abby expectantly. "So? Why am I here today, Abby?"

Abby cleared her throat. "Yes. Well, as you might know, SBG Management was, till recently, just a small boutique agency. Now that V3 has closed up shop, we have taken on a lot of their clients. So many, in fact, that we have had to double our staff to be able to give all our clients the high level of personal attention that has always been our trademark."

"Well, good for you and congratulations, I suppose, but what's any of that gotta do with me?" Dani asked, although she was beginning to see where Abby might be going with this.

"One of our new clients is Terrence King. And he's… Well, struggling. So, his agent suggested that you might be able to help him out."

"TK's agent, huh? Isn't he in jail?"

"Oh, excuse me, I didn't mean Connor. I was talking about TK's new agent, Paloma Madsen. She's…"

"Whoa, hold on a minute there – did you say Paloma? You mean the Paloma Madsen that used to be my assistant at V3?"

"One and the same," Abby smiled.

"Wow, I did not see that one coming. But not, you know, not because I don't think she can do it. Because I'm sure she makes a great agent."

"She certainly does. Anyway, Paloma was the one that suggested TK could use your help with his issues, and that's why I called you. So, what do you say?"

"Well, of course I'll help TK – if I can. What I still don't understand is why you are the one asking me for my help. I mean, TK knows he can always call me, and he has my phone number, so…"

Abby looked a little uncomfortable suddenly. "Yes, well, there's more to it than just TK…"

Dani crossed her arms. "Aaannnd the other shoe drops," she muttered.

Abby took a deep breath. "Dr. Santino, I know that you are currently unemployed. And, well, to be honest, SBG could really use someone like you…"

"…So you want to make me an offer I can't refuse. Is that it? Well, let me think… And while I'm thinking, maybe you could tell me this: if I do choose to refuse the offer, what happens to TK?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the last time I was offered a job, part of the deal was that I would work exclusively for V3 clients – or should I say clients that V3 saw fit for me to work with? Anyway, if you're suggesting that TK can only be my client again if I come work for SBG? My answer's gonna be thanks, but no thanks."

"Oh! No, Dr. Santino, believe me, SBG is very different from V3. And so is this offer. It's more like the deal you had with the New York Hawks: we will pay you to be at our disposal, and we will send our clients your way. But you would still have your own practice, and you would still be able to refuse or accept our clients as you choose."

Dani simply didn't know what to say. She did need new clients, and she did have bills to pay. But Abby Bruce and SBG Management had definitely _not_ been at the top of her to-call-list. The last thing she needed in her life was another drama like the one at V3. And SBG was too closely associated with her former employer for comfort. When she opened her mouth to voice her thoughts, Abby held up her hand and smiled apologetically.

"Look, Dr. Santino… I understand your hesitation, after what happened with Connor and V3. But let me ask you this: do you know how the FBI found out about the things that were going on at V3?"

Dani answered carefully: "Well, as I understand, they had an… informant… inside V3." Memories of Nico tried to flood her mind, but she refused to acknowledge them.

"Yes, they did… But who tipped them off that they even needed an informant?"

"Oh. Well, wild guess then – that was you?"

"Bingo. After that, they wanted me to bond with Troy, get him to talk. And in the end, when their informant couldn't deliver? They asked me to try and get the dirt on Connor. Which I was very close to doing when they told me it was no longer necessary. Apparently by then one of the athletes had already provided them with enough evidence to bring down the entire organization. And of course they also had Troy's confession, so…"

"Whoa, time out! Information overload here! So you are saying that… what, that you were part of the whole FBI sting, and that was the only reason you reassociated with Connor and V3?"

"Exactly," Abby's face took on a disgusted expression. "If it had been up to me, I would never have set foot near V3 or that sleazebag C-Mac again after the way he screwed me over."

"Wait, so it wasn't the other way around? You didn't… screw over… Connor while he was sitting with his father on his deathbed?"

Abby laughed incredulously. "_That's_ what he told you? Wow, that's low, even for Connor. No, that's not what happened at all. In fact, I think his father is still alive today – though I'm not entirely sure. But anyway, Dr. Santino, what I was trying to say is this: if you accept my offer, you won't have to worry about getting into a situation like the one at V3."

"Yeah… Gee, Abby, I just don't know…" Dani tried to create order in the chaos that used to be her mind.

"Okay… Tell you what," Abby interrupted her thoughts. "You don't have to take my word for it. You take on TK as a client, send the bill to SBG. See how it goes. Talk to Paloma or Jasmine, or, you know, you can even call agent Bennett and ask if he can vouch for us, I think I still have his business card around here somewhere… Anyway, so you think about everything. Then you get back to me. If you still don't want to work with us, we just go our separate ways. No hard feelings, I promise."

"Well, if you put it that way… Allright. Have TK call me to set up an appointment."

"Thanks, Dr. Santino, you won't regret it, I promise!" Abby's face lit up in a broad smile.

"I'm not so sure about that… And just so we're clear: I'm not saying I'm accepting your job offer. I'm saying that I'll think about it."

"Of course, I understand. I'll have TK call you as soon as possible."

Dani left the SBG building in a daze, still trying to figure out what to think of Abby's story. She never noticed the man leaning against a fence across the street. But he was watching her intently, with a cold look in his grey eyes. _Well, well, well, look who we have here_, he thought. It seemed that the good doctor was about to become a… problem… once again.

**A/N 2: Well, Abby's story was a bit of a surprise… And I don't know if I trust her. What are your thoughts on her and on her story? And should Dani accept her offer? Also: yes, I know, no Nico in this chapter. Stay tuned for chapter three, in which I hope to fix that problem ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Well, this chapter came out pretty quickly, I must have been really inspired :-) This one is for all the Danico fans out there, I think you'll like it! Thanks again for all your encouragement and compliments, hope you'll keep reading!**

Chapter 3

"_When all this is over, we should um… we should go somewhere," she all but purrs._

_Nico feels like he can't stop smiling. His chest aches with the love he feels for this beautiful woman. "Where?" he asks._

"_Meow!" Dani answers._

_Nico raises an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"_

"_Meoooow!"_

Nico opened his eyes, only to find Onyx sitting on his chest, giving him an impatient look. "Meow?" the cat tried again, and Nico groaned. When would he stop dreaming of her? He'd tried to stow his feelings for Dani, along with his thoughts and memories of her, in one of the compartments she had accused him of keeping in his head. But they just wouldn't stay there… Onyx started kneading the duvet with his paws, looking increasingly cross at being ignored. "Yeah, allright, allright, I'll get you your food!"

After he had fed his cat, Nico hit the shower and got dressed. He had a busy day today. His security firm was really starting to take off. For today, no less than three meetings with potential clients were scheduled. But first he was supposed to meet with agent Bennett and the DA, to give deposition about his part in the uncovering of the V3-scandal. His thoughts threatened to wander back to Dani, but he wouldn't let them. The dreams were bad enough – although he'd also had a couple of dreams about her that he'd describe as… satisfying… rather than bad – _Focus, Careles!_ His phone buzzed. Shaking his head to get certain images out of his mind, he reached for the phone and, without looking at the caller ID, answered the call. "Careles."

"Yo, Sneako! What's up man?"

"TK, what can I do for you?"

"Y'heard the news? Doctor D is back in town! So, I got to thinkin' maybe we can all get together, ya know, for drinks or somethin'? Do some catchin' up?"

Nico sighed. "Really, TK? _That's_ why you're calling me at 7 a.m.?"

"Uhhh… Well, one o'the reasons…"

"Okay, spit it out, TK, what is it this time?"

"Yeah, allright… so I'm kinda nervous, ya know man? I mean, 'bout this deposition thing and all…"

"What's there to be nervous about? You go in, tell your story, then get out."

"Y'think so? I mean, I've done this testifying thing before, remember, with that nutcase that shot me? Now that, that was definitely not like what you're saying now, if ya know what I mean."

"Trust me on this, TK. No judge, no jury this time. Think of it as an interview. You'll be fine."

"You sure, man? C-Mac or that creep Strauss ain't gonna be there?"

"Nope."

"Allright, if you say so… Thanks, Sneako. Now what about those drinks, huh? You, me, Dr. D?"

"Bye, TK." Nico ended the call, trying to get rid of the image the wide receiver had put in his head: Dani in that green cocktaildress, drink in hand, smiling at him. With a heavy sigh, he put his phone in his pocket and got his car keys. Seemed like it was going to be one of those days…

* * *

The man with the grey eyes walked hurriedly towards the SBG building. He was later than he had planned, but he hoped it was still early enough to deliver his package undetected by any member of the SBG personnel. That wouldn't do at all. He especially wasn't ready to be seen by any of the key players yet. If he saw anyone that was remotely familiar to him, he'd just have to keep on walking and try again tomorrow. His mind wandered to Santino. What had she been doing here yesterday? Was it possible that Bruce actually had need for the doctor's services? And if so, was it for one of SBG's clients or for Bruce herself? He rather liked the second possibility. Because if that was the case, he must already be getting on her nerves. _Not so tough after all, are you, dear Abby?_ The thought made him smile. He slipped his hand in the pocket of his leather jacket to retrieve the package and looked around one more time. The building seemed deserted, but he would have to be careful nonetheless.

* * *

Dani looked at herself in the mirror and was content with what she saw. Okay, there may be a hint of dark circles under her eyes, but they were almost invisible thanks to her trusted concealer. Her shortsleeved navy blue dress made her look businesslike, an effect that was further enhanced by her hairdo: a low, tight bun that was already starting to give her a slight headache. It's just for a few hours, she reminded herself as she went looking for a pair of shoes that would match the dress.

"Wow, mom, you look like a school teacher today! Am I in trouble?" Lindsay joked as she came bounding down the stairs.

"What? Oh, no, at least not that I know of… Got something to tell me?" Dani had settled on a pair of brown low wedge sandals, and now looked at her daughter over her shoulder while trying to get her feet in them.

Lindsay looked a bit uncomfortable. "Uh, no, nothing at all! So, where are you off to looking like that?"

"Well, I have to give a deposition today, about the whole V3-thing. Figured I might as well dress the part of a reliable witness. You think it's too much?"

"No, I was just kidding, you look great. Oh, gotta run. Goodluck, bye!" Lindsay ran out the door, leaving Dani wondering if she had imagined that look of discomfort on her daughters face. Was something seriously wrong, or was it just teen stuff? Dani sighed. Lindsay had been right yesterday, they had a lot to talk about on their girls night tomorrow.

* * *

Three hours later Dani walked out of the DA's office feeling tired. Her headache had only gotten worse, and while waiting for the elevator she brought her hands up to her hair. After a moment of hesitation, she decided _screw it_, and freed her hair from the bun. Her headache started to subside immediately and a relieved sigh escaped her. The deposition had felt like a waste of time: the DA had asked her the same questions over and over again, and she had given him the same answers she had given the FBI during her debriefing a month ago. Then, when the deposition was over, she had tried to get agent Bennett to vouch for Abby and SBG, but he'd just told her he couldn't reveal anything about the operation before the trial was over. So now she was wracking her brains trying to think of another way to verify Abby's story. She could ask Paloma or TK, as Abby herself had suggested, but would their answers be enough for her peace of mind? Not that she didn't trust them, but both of them had also been fooled by V3 – _just like you were fooled by them_, she reminded herself.

When she walked out of the building, the sun had come out and she squinted her eyes, while digging around her purse for her sunglasses, her headache once again cranking up a notch. At last she found the sunglasses and put them on, only to start digging around again, this time looking for her car keys. While searching for them, she headed in the direction of the parking garage just around the corner, where she had left her car.

Just when her fingers closed around the elusive keys, she walked right into what felt like a solid wall. She would have lost her footing, but strong hands gripped her upper arms and held her up. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry about that! I…" That's when she looked up and saw a pair of amused hazel eyes looking back at her from a very familiar, slightly smirking face. "Oh! Um… Hi. Nico."

"Hello, doctor," he answered, the sound of his voice sending shivers down her spine.

* * *

Nico had to work hard not to kiss her senseless right then and there. But he figured that wouldn't go over well, not with their last confrontation and more than a month of radio silence still hanging in the air between them. He let go of her arms, his heart missing a beat at the slight disappointment that flashed in her eyes when he took a step back. He couldn't help drinking in the sight of her. The snug dress she was wearing hit her curves in all the right places, and her hair fell freely around her shoulders, just the way he liked it most… _Quit staring and say something, you idiot!_ He cleared his throat. "So, how was your vacation?" was the only thing he could think of – well not the only thing of course, but his other options would go over about as well as kissing her.

Dani seemed a bit startled, as if she had gotten just as distracted as he had been. "Uh, fine. Well, great actually. Barcelona's beautiful, and, you know, Jeanette was there, so… Yeah, it was fun… Um, and how have you been?"

_Missing you_. For a second he thought he'd said that out loud, but she didn't react, so he figured he was safe. "Busy, mostly."

"Lots of things to… fix… for Mr. Cuban, huh?"

"I turned down that job, actually." As a matter of fact, Dallas had been off the table from the moment he had followed her up to her bedroom that night before everything went to hell. But she didn't know that, of course, because he hadn't gotten around to telling her before Alex had shown up at V3.

She raised her eyebrows and eyed him sceptically. "Really. Another 'change of plans'?" Her fingers made quotation marks in the air.

"That's one way to put it."

She sighed. "Okay. Well, Nico – it was great to see you and all, and I would just love to stay and chat, but I gotta run. You're not the only one who's got a busy life, ya know!" She smiled awkwardly.

He knew that he couldn't just let her walk away. "Dani. Wait… Let me buy you a cup of coffee." He held his breath as he waited for her response, although he fully expected to hear a definite _no_.

"I really don't have time now…" She seemed to think of something suddenly, "But, hey, maybe we can have lunch later?" She checked her watch, "Say… one o'clock? I know a nice place in Soho."

He blinked. Had he heard her right? She wanted to _have lunch with him_? "Uh, yeah, sure," he managed.

"Allright, I'll text you the address – um, you still have the same number?"

"Yeah."

"Okay great, I'll see you at one then!" She gave him a another quick smile and walked away, leaving him staring after her and seriously considering pinching himself to make sure this wasn't a dream.

* * *

Dani got behind the wheel and jammed the key into the ignition. Then she hit the AC button. Her heart was still racing and she felt like she had a fever or something, so she decided to just sit there for a minute or two. _Did you _really_ just agree to have lunch – with _Nico_?_ The voice in her head sounded a lot like Jeanettes. Dani leaned her head back and closed her eyes. So, yeah, it seemed like she did have a lunch date. _Nu-uh, not a date_, she corrected herself. Just lunch. With Nico. Who she had thought she'd never see again. And who, once again, had _not_ gone to Dallas. What was up with that? She frowned. Next time the man said he was gonna go somewhere, she might want to consider dropping him off at the airport personally, just to make sure he was really going! _Cut it out, Santino, there won't be a next time._ Right. Just one lunch, that was it. And only because he may be able to verify Abby's story about the FBI. All business, no pleasure. Dani nodded her head once to confirm that last thought. Then she blew out a heavy sigh and started the car. She was more than halfway home before she realised that her headache was gone and that there was a big, goofy grin on her face.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So… who wants to join me for lunch? :-)**

Chapter four

The restaurant was crowded, but Dani managed to get a table in the back corner that was relatively private. She sat down and tried to calm her nerves by doing the same simple breathing exercise that she taught her patients, but it was no use. Every time the door opened and a customer walked in, the swarm of butterflies that seemed to have taken up residence in her stomach took flight. Why on earth had she suggested lunch? She'd be surprised if she even managed to swallow one little bite, let alone a whole sandwich! Well, too late to change that now. She looked at her watch yet again. It was twelve fifty, only two minutes later than the last time she'd checked. Drumming her fingers on the table, she let her mind replay the awkward encounter outside the DA's office. Although Nico hadn't seemed that awkward… In fact, he'd looked as composed as he ever had. On the other hand, he was back to talking in those short, concise sentences she had come to recognize as a defense mechanism he relied on when he felt he was in danger of revealing too much of himself. Or was that just her imagination and was that just the way he always talked? _You're the only one who knows me_, he'd said on two occasions, but she wondered if she really did. Then the door opened and Nico walked in. He made a beeline for her table, without her having to get his attention first. Dani sat up and laid her hands flat in front of her, barely resisting the impulse to fidget with her hair.

"Hey," she said when he reached the table.

"Hey yourself," he answered with a small smile, and sat down. He looked down at the table for a moment, then straight in her eyes as he took a deep breath and continued: "You look beautiful, Dani." And the butterflies in her stomach went wild.

"Uh, thanks," she managed, before her voice seemed to abandon her. She tried to look away, but found she couldn't. It was as if she was held captive by his eyes. She saw him open his mouth to say something else, but then a waitress appeared at their table and the spell was broken. Dani blinked a few times and let out the breath she hadn't even realized she was holding, while the waitress jotted down Nico's order and then turned to her. "Um, I'll just have a salad, please. And some water." The waitress turned to leave and Dani found Nico giving her an odd look. "What?" she said.

He shrugged. "I just never saw you eat a salad before. Going vegetarian all of a sudden?"

She gave him a horrified look and answered: "Vegetarian? Hello? Have you _met_ me?" He chuckled at that, which made her smile in return. And just like that, her stomach unclenched and the tension between them was broken.

Their lunch arrived, and Dani found that she did, in fact, have an appetite. "So, what has kept you so busy these past weeks?" she asked him between bites.

"Well, I have my very own security business now," he answered.

"You're kidding."

"Nope. Even got myself a website."

"Really? I'll have to check that out. But how did you get a whole business off the ground so fast?"

"Oh, Marshall and I had laid the groundwork for this business years ago, so it was just a question of picking up where we left off, more or less. And you? Back to your private practice?"

"Hm, still deciding." Dani pushed away her plate and drank some of her water. "I was actually offered a job at a sports agency yesterday."

"Oh? Which one?"

"SBG Management. You know, the agency V3 first went to war with and then later took over?"

"I remember. The owner's Abby Bruce, right?"

"Yeah. Did you know that she was also part of the whole FBI thing?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Who told you that?"

"She did, right after she offered me the job." Dani then told Nico all about her meeting with Abby. When she was done, he remained silent for a minute. "So, what do you think?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"Yeah, well, that makes two of us," Dani sighed.

"Want me to look into her story?"

"Would you?"

"Sure, I'll see what I can find out."

"Thanks, Nico," she smiled.

"No problem." He looked at his watch and took out his wallet. "Well, I hate to cut this short, but…" He put money on the table.

"Oh, that's okay, really. Actually, I've got TK coming in for a session in about forty minutes, so I should get going too."

"I'll get back to you when I know more about SBG," he said, getting up.

"Great." She got up too, and then they both just stood there looking at each other for a moment. Unsure of what to say next. Dani felt the tension return in full force, her heart rate picking up speed. She glanced at his mouth, then back up to find him glancing at hers. "Nico…" she started, but she fell silent again when he brought his hand up to her face.

His index finger touched her lips, gently hushing her. "Shhh. Don't ruin a perfectly good lunch now, Dani," he said in a low voice. He leaned in and she felt the lightest brush of his lips against her cheek. Her breath caught. "I've missed you," he whispered, barely audible. Then he turned and left.

* * *

"Hey, Doctor D! Lookit you girl, all tanned 'n healthy-lookin'!" Before Dani knew what was happening, TK had enveloped her in a hug. "Damn, 's good to see you again, Doc!" He released her and plopped down on the couch, his hand already outstretched to the jar of jellybeans.

"Hello, Terrence, it's good to see you too. Guess recovery is going well, at least the sling's gone."

"Yeah, just a few more weeks and I'll be good 's new and ready to go kick some ass out there on the field." He popped a candy into his mouth.

"Well, that's great news, isn't it?"

"Damn right it is!"

"So, Paloma seems to think that there are some things that you would like to discuss with me."

"Yeah, but not just yet. Cuz first I wanna know 'bout you, Doctor D! We talk 'bout me all the time… So, you git a little taste of that Spanish Fly, or what?" The wide receiver grinned and helped himself to some more candy. Dani crossed her legs, folded her hands in her lap and just looked at him expectantly. "Aw, you really not lettin' me off the hook here, are you?"

"Do you really want me to let you off the hook?"

"Hell, I don't know _what_ I want anymore, Doc!" He sighed. "My head's a mess, you know? An' no matter what I try, I just can't get it on straight again!"

"Okay, tell you what, Terrence. Why don't you tell me what happened while I was on vacation. Because, you know, right before I left I saw a post-game interview with a guy that seemed to have his head on straight for the first time in oh, I don't know, three years? What happened to that guy while I was in Barcelona?"

TK released a heavy sigh. "His team lost the playoffs, that's what happened."

"Yeah, but… There'll be other chances at winning, right?"

"Not for me there won't."

"Now why would you say that?"

"Cuz it's true. I'm gettin' too old, doc. My injury? Yeah, it's healing, but I'll never be at the top of my game again! And we barely even _made_ the playoffs this year, and so now I got the feelin' that this was my last shot at a ring, ya know?"

"And… you blew it? Is that what you mean, Terrence?"

"Hell yeah I blew it! If my shoulder had been allright, this never woulda happened and we woulda kicked all their asses!" TK leaned his elbows on his knees and looked at the carpet. "Why do I keep screwing it all up, doc?"

"Okay, first of all: you didn't screw anything up here, Terrence. You didn't get injured on purpose, now did ya?" He didn't react to that. "And second… Trust me, Terrence. Even if you wouldn't have gotten that injury, there's no telling what would have happened with the playoffs. And you know that. As for your future chances of winning a ring, remember the last time we were talking about rings?" She let the silence stretch out until finally he sat back up again.

"Yeah… I asked you why rings mattered so much…" she nodded to encourage him, "And then you said there's no greater bling than a man's reputation…"

"Exactly. So…?" Dani smiled and raised an eyebrow at him.

"I shouln't worry so much about that damn ring? Yeah doc, I know. But I still do, see, that's the whole problem!"

"Okay, so let me ask you this: is that ring the only ring you want, Terrence? Because as I seem to remember, the reason we were talking rings back then, was because of the engagement ring you gave to Sheera, right?"

"I guess… But I haven't seen that woman since, doc, so what's your point?" TK reached for the jellybeans again, and Dani knew she was on the right track.

"And are there other any women in your life right now?"

He grinned. "Hell yeah, my love life's on a roll ever since I kicked Sheera out! There's Sally… and Bridget… and Jasmine… and that was jus' last night! Night before, there was…"

"Whoa! Terrence! Hold it right there. I don't need the whole… guest list, thank you! I just wanna know: do you ever miss Sheera?"

"Well… Yeah, sometimes."

"Would you like to get back together with her?"

"Aw, hell no! That girl… she just… Hell, you know!"

"Yes, I do know. But if you don't want her back, then what exactly is it that you miss about her?"

"Hell, I don't know…"

"What's the first thing that comes to mind?"  
"Ahh, well, havin' dinner together, I guess. Yeah. Comin' home and then just, ya know, sittin' with her, eatin', talkin'… At least when Sheera was there, I wasn't… alone all the time. And I liked that, ya know? It felt good 's what it did."

"And do you know any women that might make you feel the same? I mean, there was Vivica once…"

"Nah, she engaged now. But, there's this one woman… But that ain't never gonna happen."

"Why not?"

"She and I, we gotta working relationship. And we're friends too. And I don't got that many friends, doc, real friends I mean. So, hell, I don't wanna mess that up…"

"But you are in love with her, aren't you, Terrence?" He nodded. "And how does she feel about you?"

"Uh, well, she said I'm a good man, but…" he shrugged.

"Well, that's a start, right?"

"Sure. But… What if she's wrong about that, doc?" He looked at the carpet again.

Dani leaned forward, grabbed one of his hands and waited for him to look up at her. When he finally did, she smiled and said, "What if she's not, Terrence?"

They talked a bit more about reputations on and off the field, and then time was up. When TK had left, Dani felt emotionally wrung out. Between the deposition, lunch with Nico and the session with TK, she had the feeling that she was right back to where she'd been before she left for Barcelona. She caught herself hoping that Abby and SBG were legit, so she could finally make that fresh start she so badly needed.

* * *

Dani went to bed early that night, but couldn't sleep at first. She kept replaying lunch with Nico in her mind. _I've missed you…_ She could still feel his lips on her cheek. She tossed and turned, until finally she realised that it was no use. She got up and wandered out to the back porch for some fresh air. She sat on the very same bench she and Nico had been sitting on when they shared their first kiss and let her memories of him flood her mind.  
When her eyes started burning and her throat closed up, she was surprised at first. Then she realised that she hadn't cried one single tear about everything that had happened between them, not even when she was on vacation. She had been too busy being angry with him. But her anger seemed to have subsided over time, and what was left was sadness. And suddenly she couldn't outrun that feeling any longer. She was too tired to fight it, so she finally let the tears come.

* * *

It was almost midnight and the room would have been dark if it wasn't for the light of the full moon. Nico sat on his couch sipping scotch, tired after his long day yet too keyed up to sleep. Onyx didn't have such problems: the cat was stretched out on the back of the sofa, snoring softly in Nico's ear. Nico took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. What Dani had told him about Abby Bruce had surprised him. As far as he had known at the time, the feds had had only two people inside V3, himself and Stanzi Palmer. Though it would make sense for them to also enlist Bruce's help, with her being able to get much closer to both Connor and Troy than he or Palmer could ever hope to get. Nico knew that Bennett would never give him the information about Abby's possible involvement freely. After all, Nico wasn't an agent, he was just an informant. Luckily he had other contacts within the Bureau that would gladly help him out.  
He decided to make that call first thing in the morning, so hopefully he would have answers for Dani in the evening. For a moment he enjoyed the idea of showing up at her doorstep in the middle of the night to give her those answers, just for old time's sake. But he would probably just give her a call. Lunch had been great, but he couldn't escape the feeling that she had only invited him because she wanted him to look into SBG. And so he just hadn't been able to resist touching her, kissing her. Although she hadn't seemed unaffected by that, he wasn't entirely sure anymore if she could ever get past the issues that were still between them. He'd wanted to give her time and space to work through her initial anger, hoping she would eventually come to him to talk things out. But he was beginning to wonder how much longer he'd have to wait. He'd played the waiting game before, with Gabrielle. And frankly he just wasn't sure he could, or even wanted to, do it again. Not even for Dani.

Just when he decided to try and get some sleep, his phone buzzed with an incoming text. A smile lit up his face when he read the four words in the message: _I've missed you too_. He felt something deep in his chest relax, for the first time in weeks. Maybe he could wait for her just a little bit longer.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks again for the wonderful reviews, follows and faves! I hope you won't mind too much, but this chapter dials down on the romance a bit. After all, there are other plotlines to discover… Hope you like it anyway!  
**

Chapter 5

That friday morning, Dani woke up feeling a renewed sense of purpose. Amazing what a good late night crying fest could do, she thought. She was now determined to get her life back on track, ready to take control instead of simply reacting to circumstances. Last night she'd made a start by realizing that, for a woman who prided herself in not walking away from a fight, she had done an awful lot of running lately. Now that she was done running, it was time to take action and begin moving forward. Starting with Abby Bruce. Nico would get her all the facts, but that didn't mean that she couldn't do her own research in the meantime.  
When she came downstairs, she found a note from Lindsay on the kitchen counter, saying that she would be home a bit later than usual, because she wanted to do the cooking for girls night herself and had to stop by the grocery store on her way home from school. Dani smiled at that. She was really looking forward to catching up with her daughter.  
The past seven months they really hadn't seen much of each other. Of course they had had conversations over shared meals, and even the occasional hour or so together in the family room, but there had een so much going on in both their lives that they really hadn't been able to spend real quality time together. Another thing she was going to fix. And not just by making sure that she and Lindsay could have an uninterrupted girls night, but also by calling Ray Jay, who was still in Paris. She hadn't spoken to him for more than five minutes in weeks. But first: breakfast, she thought when she heard her stomach rumble.

* * *

Dani walked through the park, looking for an empty bench. They were all taken, it seemed. Old ladies enjoying the early spring sunshine, a guy in a hoodie and sunglasses staring down at his phone, some couples sitting hand in hand enjoying each others company… On the last bench sat a young businesswoman, her short blond hair cut in a stylish coupe. Dani blinked when the woman wiggled her fingers in greeting, a shy smile on her face. It couldn't be… She checked again, just when the woman took off her sunglasses and stood up. "Oh my God, _Paloma_… Wow! You look amazing! Just… Wow!" She ran over to the bench and hugged her former assistant.

"You like the new look?" Paloma asked, as they both sat down again. She raised a hand to touch her hair.

"Are you kidding? I love it! And look at your clothes!" Paloma was wearing a navy blue suit and a fuchsia-colored blouse and Dani thought she looked stunning.

"Thanks. I figured it was time for a change. But hey, tell me, how was Barcelona? You've got a nice tan on you."

"Great, it's a beautiful city and it's always nice to catch up with old friends, right? Speaking about catching up, how's your new job? I heard you were an agent now."

"Well, technically I'm a junior agent, but at SBG there really isn't much difference. And really, Dani, it's been wonderful so far, but sometimes I'm afraid…" Paloma's voice trailed off and she shrugged.

Dani was immediately on guard. "Paloma? What is it? What do you mean, afraid?"

"Oh, you know…" Paloma waved her hand in a dismissive gesture, "After everything that happened at V3… I'm afraid sometimes that I will wake up any minute now to discover that it was all just a dream and that I'm still merely an assistant… Well, not that I minded being your assistant, of course, but, you know…" she smiled an uncertain smile, "I guess I just keep waiting for the other shoe to drop or something."

"Well, that's understandable, I guess, given all that's happened. But let me ask you this: do you have reason to believe that Abby hired you for any other reason than wanting to give you a chance at making your dream come true?"

Paloma thought about that for a while, then slowly shook her head. "I guess not… She's been really great so far. But then again, as we both know, I haven't been the best judge of character lately."

"You mean Troy Cutler?" Paloma nodded. "Look, Paloma, making mistakes is a part of life. But failure is not in falling down, it's in staying down. And in the end you stood up to Troy. Don't you think that maybe it's time that you gave yourself a little credit for that part of the story?"

Paloma smiled. "Well, maybe you're right. And Abby did say that she was glad to have me onboard, so…"

"See? There you go. She doesn't strike me as the type that would hesitate to voice her dissatisfaction."

Paloma chuckled. "You've got that right…" She proceeded to tell an anecdote about how just yesterday, Abby had scolded some delivery service about not keeping decent records, in no uncertain terms.

Dani smiled. "So, you really like working for Abby, huh?"

"Oh, absolutely. And she told me that she had offered you a job at SBG too. Are you gonna take it? It would be great to work together again!"

"Well, I haven't decided yet, but I will soon," Dani promised.

They talked a bit more about what working for SBG was like, and then Paloma had to go meet a client, so they said their goodbyes and left, both going in different directions.

* * *

The man with the grey eyes watched intently from behind his sunglasses as Santino and Madsen hugged goodbye after chatting for nearly an hour. They hadn't even noticed him, thanks to the hoodie and the shades. Thank God he'd wised up and decided to disguise himself before he came here today. He'd been too far away from where they were sitting to hear what they had been talking about, but it seemed to him like the good doctor really was upto something here. He didn't like her popping up near SBG for the second time in one week. Maybe he should… Take care of her. She was far too perceptive, as he knew from personal experience. He didn't want her sticking her nose in his business. For a moment, he considered following her. Then his phone buzzed and he was reminded of his reason for being here in the first place. "Tell me good news," he answered.

"A date was set for the start of the trial. That good enough for you? It's gonna be the eighteenth."

"Yes, excellent. It gives us plenty of time to make our preparations. And what about the girl? You get her yet?"

"My guy just called in to say he had her. Went smoothly too, she never saw him coming."

"He take pictures yet?"

"They should be in your inbox any minute now."

"Good, I'll pay you in the usual way." The man with the grey eyes ended the call and checked his inbox. Sure enough, there were the pictures he'd been waiting for. Pretty girl, tied to a chair, looking kinda out of it. Time to make another phonecall, he thought, and put the phone back to his ear. He looked up at the SBG building while he waited for someone to answer. Then he said: "Hello, Abby. I have something that belongs to you..."

* * *

After her meeting with Paloma, Dani had treated herself to a long overdue mani/pedi. Her French manicure once again firmly intact, she got home just before six and was treated to a delicious smell, coming from the kitchen. She walked in there to find lasagna warming in the oven and the table already set for two. The only thing missing was her daughter. "Linds? I'm home!" she yelled. There was no answer. Dani frowned, then went upstairs to change into something more comfortable. The lasagna wouldn't be done for another half hour, so she figured maybe Lindsay had gone back to the grocery store because she'd forgotten something earlier.

She put on jeans and a T-shirt and went back downstairs, just as the front door opened and Lindsay walked in. She was talking on the phone and hadn't noticed Dani yet. "Yes, Winter, I told you I would, right? … I know, but she only just got back from Barcelona three days ago, so when was I supposed to tell her? I promise I'll tell her tonight. Gotta go now, bye!"

"Tell me what, Linds?" Dani asked, startling her daughter.

"Oh! Mom, hi, didn't see you there, when did you get back? I've got lasagna in the oven, so…" Lindsay made a beeline for the kitchen.

"Tell me what, Linds?" Dani repeated. She stepped in Lindsay's path, crossed her arms and looked sternly at the teenager. She remembered the look of discomfort she'd seen on her daughters face the other morning and started to silently pray that Lindsay wasn't going to tell her she was pregnant or anything.

"Mom… please, can we do this later? It's nothing serious, I promise." Lindsay looked at her pleadingly.

Dani wasn't convinced, but she didn't want to ruin their girls night either, so she sighed and stepped aside to let Lindsay into the kitchen. "Okay then… But you better not tell me you're pregnant," she said, trying to sound as if she were merely joking.

"Of course not! Really mom, I'm not pregnant, okay? I don't even have a boyfriend! Let's just eat. Look, I even made us some bruschetta as an entree!" Lindsay proudly pointed to the plastic covered plate in the center of the table. Dani decided to let her off the hook for now, but couldn't escape a feeling of impending doom as they sat down and ate, while talking small talk for the next hour or so.

Dani had to admit that her daughter had done a wonderful job, but when she made her a compliment at the end of the meal, Lindsay brushed it off. "Hey, what can I say, you taught me well, huh?" She smiled sweetly at her mother, who gave her a suspicious look in return.

"Okay. Enough with the sweet-talk already. Out with it, what's going on?" Dani watched her daughter squirm for a moment, then take a deep breath and square her shoulders.

"Okay, I guess there's no real easy way of telling you this, so… Mom, I'm moving out." Dani choked on her wine.

"Wait, what?" she said when she was done coughing. She must have heard Lindsay wrong, right?

"I'm moving out. Winter has found this great appartment, but she can't afford it on her own. So I figured, you know, since I'm going to NYU in September anyway…" Lindsays voice trailed off and she looked at Dani with an expectant smile. But when the silence stretched for half a minute, the smile faltered. Lindsay opened her mouth to say something else, but Dani held up her hand.

"And do I, ya know, your _mother_, get to have a say in this, Linds? Or were you just gonna, oh, I don't know, pull a Ray Jay on me?" Dani winced as she said it. That had come out all wrong. And judging by the mutinous expression on Lindsay's face, it had been the exact wrong thing to say. So she tried again. "I'm sorry Linds, I didn't mean that. I'm just… shocked, okay?" Lindsay's face softened a bit.

"I know, mom. But I'm eighteen now, and… it's not like I can live here with you forever, right?"

"Yeah… No, I know that, honey, it's just… I feel like you've grown up so fast, and I don't really know how to handle that. And it's such a big step, you know?" Dani swallowed.

"That's why I thought I'd tell you now. So you'll have time to get used to the idea, you know? I won't be moving until the schoolyear's over... And, hey, at least it's not Paris, right?" Lindsay tried.

"Well, yeah, that's something, I guess… So where is it, then?"

"Greenwich Village. It's real close to NYU campus, so that works out great!" Lindsay's voice still sounded a little nervous, but her eyes lit up in enthusiasm.

"Okay, well… I guess I'll have to get used to the idea of living by myself then, huh?" Dani's smile was a bit shaky. Lindsay got up to give her mother a hug. Dani grabbed on real tight and wished she could hold on forever. "I love you so much, Linds," she whispered.

"Love you too, mom."

After that, Lindsay showed her pictures of the apartment online and Dani had to admit it really looked like a nice place to live. She still wasn't wildly enthusiastic about Lindsay moving out, and at such a youg age, but she also knew there was nothing she could do to stop her daughter. So for the rest of the evening, she tried to be as supportive as possible, while trying not to think about how big and empty her house would seem after her daughter left.

When Lindsay had gone to bed, Dani sat on the couch in the family room with another glass of wine. She stared absently at the photo of herself and her children that had replaced the big family picture that used to hang in that exact same spot when she'd still been married to Ray. Smiling, she remembered the day she had taken that picture down, only to discover it in the back of Lindsay's closet a few days later. That led to other memories of her children growing up and often acting out, and soon she was so immersed in her trip down memory lane, that the buzzing of her phone on the table literally made her jump.

"Hey Nico," she answered, her voice sounding tired even to her own ears.

"Hi. Did I wake you?"

"Oh, no, I was still up." She let out a sigh.

"Dani? You allright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just… You know, family stuff."

"Want to talk?"

"Nah, not really, I feel like I've done enough talking for a year today. But thanks."

"Okay, guess I'll do the talking then. I checked out Abby's story – seems she was telling the truth."

"Well, that's good news. I could use a little of that... Thanks again for checking."

"Anytime. You gonna accept her offer?" he asked, and Dani thought about it for a moment.

"Yeah, I think I will, actually. I talked to Paloma today, and she seems very happy there…"

"So… you did a little digging yourself there, doctor? Still don't trust me?" He made it sound like a joke, but Dani had the feeling that he was actually being very serious. And she didn't miss a beat.

"I do trust you," she simply said.

"That's good to hear." They were both silent for a moment. Then Dani took a deep breath and decided to go for it already.

"Listen, Nico... I think we need to talk."

"So do I." His response was quick, his voice holding a note of relief.

"Good. So do you want to come over? Um, maybe tomorrow night?"

"I'll be there at eight."

They ended the call and Dani went straight to bed. Unlike the previous night she fell asleep right away, a smile on her face.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Mmm, I think I'm gonna have to up the rating for this story… Enjoy!**

Chapter six

"So… Mom? I'm going to Winter's now." Lindsay hovered in the doorway to her mother's office, where Dani was going over some client records.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Okay, honey, have fun!" She smiled at her daughter, who still seemed hesitant to go. Dani gave her a worried look. "Something the matter?"

"Um, I was just wondering if you and I are really… okay? You know, because of last night." Lindsay glanced down at the floor. "I mean, you're not angry or anything, are you?"

"No, Linds… Sweetie, of course I'm not angry. Come here, sit." Dani pointed to the couch and Lindsay gave her an uncertain smile, then sat down. Dani sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. She leaned her head against Lindsay's, and they just sat there for a moment. "I am so sorry that I couldn't be happier for you last night, Linds. And for, you know, lashing out at you the way I did. It's just that… well, I didn't see it coming, though I know I should have. After all, you _are_ eighteen and you _are_ going to college… And I'm just gonna miss you _so_ _much_!" Dani tightened her arm around Lindsay's shoulder. "I mean, when you're gone, who am I gonna yell at for not cleaning up their room? Huh?" Lindsay giggled, and the sound made Dani smile.

"Well you could always think about getting a pet... Or, you know, starting something with a nice guy?" Dani knew Lindsay was just teasing her, but for a moment she imagined what it would be like to have a man around the house again. One man in particular came to mind… She shook off that thought before it could fully form and tried hard to keep a pleasantly neutral expression on her face. But when Lindsay gave her a stunned look, she knew she hadn't succeeded. "Mom, are you… _dating_ again? You are, right? That's great! So, is he…"

"Whoa!" Dani held up her hands. "No. No, I'm not… dating. Although I do have a, well, a date-like… _thing_ tonight…" Dani could not believe she was having this conversation with her eighteen-year-old.

"A thing." Lindsay repeated.

"Yes. A thing. It's… complicated, okay? Can we leave it at that?"

"But Mom…"

"No buts! Go on now, off you go, Winter's waiting for you!"

"As long as you know that you're not off the hook, Mom!" Lindsay said, getting up.

"We'll see about that. Now shoo, before I decide to lock you up in your room for the rest of the weekend and make you _really_ clean it!"

"Okay, okay! I'm leaving already! Love you Mom!" Lindsay smiled and blew her mother a kiss before she walked out the front door.

Dani finished going over her records and then went to get the mail out of the mailbox. On top of the stack was a white envelope that immediately caught her attention because it only had her name on it, and nothing else. Still standing by the mailbox, she tore it open right away. Inside was one single sheet of white paper, with four neatly printed words in the center: _Stay away from SBG_. Dani blinked. She really didn't know what to make of it. Was it a threat or a warning? And who had it come from? Full of questions, she turned an headed back to the house. She put the note on the bar in her kitchen and studied it, until the house phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey Mom!"

"Oh! Ray Jay, hi! How are you?" Just like that, the note was banished to the back of her mind, as she took the phone over to the familiy room and settled on the couch for a nice long talk with her son.

* * *

The man with the grey eyes used his phone to snap a few pictures of the Santino girl as she and her friend got out of the car and walked across the parking lot towards the shopping mall. This morning, just after he had dropped the note into Santino's mailbox, he'd seen the girl come out of the house and get into her car. He had been a bit surprised, because he hadn't known that she had a daughter. Then again, how could he have known? Although they'd had to deal with each other professionally, the relationship between him and the good doctor had never been of the warm and friendly variety. They had never spoken to each other about anything other than work related stuff, and even that had only happened a handful of times. But now that he knew that she had a daughter, he also knew that she would be no problem. The note he'd left her this morning may not be enough to keep her away from SBG, but a threat to her daughter? Well, that would probably do it…

* * *

After she had spent over an hour talking to Ray Jay, Dani decided she might as well take the next step in moving forward and try to get in touch with Abby Bruce. Of course there was a chance that Abby wouldn't pick up her work phone on a saturday, but if Dani had read Abby correctly, which she was almost sure she had, she figured that chance was small at best. She looked up Abby's businesscard and punched in the number for her cellphone.

"Hello?" Abby answered almost immediately, which didn't surprise Dani in the least. What did surprise her was the slightly nervous tone of Abby's voice.

"Abby? It's Dani Santino."

"Oh… Uh, hi doctor Santino…"

Dani frowned, as Abby's voice now held a note of disappointment. "Is everything okay?" she tried.

"Oh, yes… I'm sorry, I was just… expecting um, someone else."

"Oh. Well, I'll make it quick, then. I just called to tell you that I've decided to accept your offer. If it's still valid, of course."

"Uh, that's great to hear, Doctor Santino…" In contradiction to her words, Abby's voice held little enthusiasm. Dani could hardly believe she was talking to the same woman that had all but begged her to come work for SBG only days ago.

"Okay then… So, when would you like me to start?" There was no answer. "Abby? Hello? Are you still there?"

"Yes, Doctor Santino. I'm sorry, I just have a lot of things going on right now, and… Anyway. Maybe you could come to my office monday morning around nine? We can work out the details then."

"Sure. But Abby… are you sure you're okay?" Dani couldn't help but asking.

"Yes, Doctor, I'm fine. Now, if you'll excuse me? I have… other things to do now."

Dani didn't even get a chance to respond before Abby broke the connection. Stunned, she looked at her phone. "Well. That was weird…" she said to the empty room. Then she walked back into the kitchen, where the note was still sitting on the bar where she'd left it. She picked it up and read it once again. Was it just a coincidence that the note made her feel about just as welcome to SBG as her conversation with Abby did?

* * *

Nico parked his car in her driveway and shut down the engine. Then he just sat behind the wheel for a moment, remembering the cool reception he'd gotten last time she had invited him here. As soon as she'd opened the door for him, she'd made it clear to him that it was _all business, no pleasure_. He knew that tonight wasn't about business, of course, but he couldn't be entirely sure there would be pleasure involved either. _Only one way to find out, right?_ He got out of the car and walked up to the house. He hadn't taken more than a few steps when the front door opened, as if she'd been waiting on the other side. She appeared in the doorway, dressed in black pants and a burgundy turtleneck that clung to her body in a way that should be illegal. As Nico walked up to her and looked in her big brown eyes, he lost his breath at the barely concealed desire he saw in them. Then her tongue came out to lick her lips in a nervous gesture, and he couldn't help but groan at the sight of it. Her eyes widened at the sound – and that was it. Damn the consequences. He was done fighting this. Nico Careles did the only thing he could do. He closed the distance between them and pulled her body flush against his, as he took her mouth in a scorching kiss.

All coherent thoughts fled Dani's mind for a while as she kissed him right back, holding on tight to his black leather jacket, simply reveling in the feel of his body against hers, his mouth on hers, his hands roaming her face, her shoulders, her back, her sides… _God, this feels so good…_ He backed her up against the door. Feeling the hard surface against her back made her come to her senses again. She broke the kiss and leaned heavily against the door, her eyes still closed, breathing hard. She felt him taking a step back. "Oh my God," she breathed, then opened her eyes and looked at him. "I _really_ think we should talk first…"

* * *

The man with the grey eyes watched as they went inside and the door closed behind them. The good doctor didn't seem particularly scared. And from what Bruce had told him when he'd called her this afternoon, Santino wasn't planning to stay away from SBG as he'd suggested either. On top of that, he now also had Careles to worry about. Judging by that kiss, the man wouldn't simply step aside to let him do what he needed to do...

**A/N: (*****Ducking for cover*) Hope you can forgive me for cutting this a little short... I'll try to make up for it in chapter seven!  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**UPDATED A/N 27 JANUARY: I've taken the rating down to T for now, because there were some readers that couldn't find this story anymore. But be warned: my next update (which will be tomorrow at the latest), will take the rating up to M again. If you like (tasteful) sexiness, hit the follow button so you'll be able to find my story again after the M rating. If the sexiness is not for you, then rest assured that the story lines will all end well, and thanks for sticking with the story so far!  
**

**A/N: I'd like to dedicate this chapter to someone who's loved her own hero – and who's lost him twice. You know who you are :)**

**Also, thank you once again for all the wonderful reviews and love for this story. And another special thanks to the person who suggested that Grey Eyes is none other than everybody's favorite earwax fetishist! Though I'm pretty sure it's not Stuart, I had a lot of fun imagining where the story would go if it was him.**

**As promised, I wanted to make up for cutting it short in chapter six, so this chapter is the longest one yet. Ready… Set… Go!**

Chapter seven

_Wow_, Nico thought as he followed Dani to her office, _talk about pleasure…_ He was still reeling from the way she had responded to his kiss. But she'd been right to break it up too. He'd promised himself before to keep his hands off her tonight, at least until he'd heard what she had to say. What this woman did to his once ironclad self control…

Nico sat down on the sofa, while Dani opted to sit in the recliner she usually sat in when talking to her patients. He couldn't say he blamed her for keeping her distance after what just happened. She sat there for what seemed an eternity, looking down at her fingernails, her shoulders hunched. Finally she raised her head and Nico's heart twisted as he saw the agony in her eyes. She cleared her throat, then spoke in a soft voice. "You… _really_ hurt me, Nico."

"I know." He leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees raking both his hands through his hair. Then he looked at her again. "Dani, I know. But I never meant to."

"But see, that's the thing… How can I be sure about that?" she whispered, shocking him to his core.

"You really think I would… _intentionally_ hurt you?"

"No! Nico, no. Of course not. I meant what I said on the phone last night. I trust you. But…" She shrugged helplessly, then sighed heavily. "You say I know you, but then… well, then your _wife_ shows up, and…" her voice trailed off and she threw her hands in the air.

"Dani, I'm sorry about Alex… She just came to give me the divorce papers."

"Nico, don't you get it? This isn't about Alex – although it would've been nice if I'd known about her sooner…"

"Dani…"

"No, let me finish. Please. I need to get it out, okay?" He nodded and she continued, "It isn't even about the fact that you were married," she rolled her eyes, "Although, again, it would've been good to know that before I met her. What I'm trying to say is… I may be a therapist, but that doesn't mean that I can read minds, Nico… And yet that is what you seem to expect from me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you never _tell_ me anything…"

"I've told you more about myself than anyone else!" he bristled.

"Yet you forgot to mention that you had a wife," she shot back.

"I thought this wasn't about Alex?"

"God! Nico, it's not!"

"Then what is it about, Dani? Because damned if I understand!"  
Nico couldn't just sit there anymore. He got up and stalked over to the window, turning his back on her. As the silence stretched out between them, he stared out into the dark yard without actually seeing anything and waited for her to start yelling at him. Waited for her to kick him out. When none of those things happened and there was only more silence, his own anger deepened. Who the hell was she to say he never told her anything? Like she was always so open? She was the one that had thrown his life upside down, then stomped off and then left him hanging for more than a month! And why couldn't she understand that she knew all the important things there were to know about him? Besides, hadn't he told her over and over again that all she had to do was ask him what she wanted to know? And she still thought she didn't know him? After he'd tried to show her, God knew how many times, what kind of man he really was? He'd thought she understood, now it turned out that she didn't. Even though he'd always been there for her when she needed him, even at those times when she hadn't really trusted him. What the fuck did she want from him?  
He tensed when he felt her hand on his shoulder.

"Look at me," she whispered, but he couldn't. "Nico, look at me," she repeated more forcefully. He turned to her, expecting to see anger in her eyes, surprised when he saw that there wasn't. "Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?" Her voice was soft, but the question cut through him like a knife.

"Dani… No." The words came out so hoarse, he almost didn't recognize his own voice. His anger started to subside.

"And do you feel safe with me?"

"Yes." As he said it, he realized it was true. She made him feel safer than anyone ever had. The realisation made what was left of his anger die down.

"Then you should also know that you can tell me… anything." Her hand came up to cup his cheek, and he couldn't help but lean into her touch.

"I do," he whispered, but part of his mind immediately started reminding him of all the things he could never tell her. Some of those things must have shown on his face, because she put her arms around his neck and hugged him to her. He closed his eyes and hid his face in her neck as his own arms slid around her and he grabbed on tight.

"Nico… You don't have to hide," she whispered, stroking the back of his head. They stood there like that for a long time.

* * *

Later, Dani led Nico to the kitchen, where she poured them each a glass of red wine. He stood silently at the bar behind her, but he seemed less tense now. She carried their glasses over to the bar and handed him his, shivering a little when their fingers brushed. They both took a sip of wine, and then he cleared his throat. "So, what happens now?" he asked.

She knew what he was really asking, but she also knew they would both need time to process what just happened in her office. So she answered, "Well, I was thinking we could go and sit in the family room." She gave him a smile and stepped past him to lead the way.

He put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "What I meant was…"

"I know what you meant, Nico," she said, raising her own hand to give his a little squeeze. "But for now, let's just go sit and relax, okay?"  
They sat down on the couch, sipping their wine in silence. After a few minutes, Dani pulled her feet up and rested her head on his shoulder. He stiffened a little, then relaxed again. She closed her eyes and just tried to enjoy the moment. But of course her mind wouldn't settle down that easily, and she found herself wondering how she could have thought that he'd been his usual cool and composed self when they'd run into each other outside the DA's office. When she looked back now, it was obvious that he had been trying to conceal his emotions just as hard as she'd been trying to hide hers. Which reminded her… "So, why didn't you go to Dallas this time?" she asked, and she felt his muscles tense again. She kept her head on his shoulder with her eyes closed and tried not to hold her breath as she waited. Finally, he let out a sigh and although he didn't completely relax, she felt some of the tension give way.

"Because of that night." She didn't have to ask which night he meant. Even back then, a part of her had known that he wasn't gonna leave. Still, she'd wondered.

"I'm glad you didn't go."

"I'm glad you're glad." She felt his lips brush her hair and then they both fell silent again, although the silence was a much more comfortable one now.  
Just when Dani started to wonder if he'd fallen asleep, Nico said, "So… more wine, doctor?" She opened her eyes and saw that her glass was indeed empty. Sitting up, she moved to take his glass from him, but he held it out of her reach. "Sit back. Relax. I'll get the wine." He stood up and went to the kitchen. She leaned back and closed her eyes again, her legs stretched out in front of her.  
When she heard him come back in, she sat up and took the glass from him. She realized she was tired, and just wanted to have a conversation of the less intense variety with him. "So something weird happened today…" she said after swallowing a sip of wine.

"What?" He seemed okay with the change in subject, relieved even.

"Well, I called Abby Bruce, you know, to tell her I'll come work for SBG, but it was a very strange conversation."

"Why?"

"She sounded… stressed. And, you know, not at all happy to hear from me."

"Maybe you caught her at a bad time."

"Well yeah, that's what she said. And I might have believed her, too. But that wasn't the only strange thing that happened today. I also received a note, telling me to, and I quote, stay away from SBG."

"Abby Bruce sent you a note?"

"Well… I didn't say it was from Abby, now did I? Although I suppose it could have been from her. You know, since there was no name on it." She watched his jaw clench as she gave him that last piece of information.

"Show me the note. And the envelope." She went to retrieve the note from her office, where she'd put it after she got tired of studying it, and handed it to him.

"Sorry, I think I threw the envelope away," she said as she watched him study the four words and then turn the note over to see if there was more on the back. "Weird, huh?"

"I wouldn't use the word weird." There was a hint of anger in his voice as he continued to stare down at the note.

"Really? How would you describe it then?" She knew the answer before he gave it, and he didn't disappoint her.

"A threat…" He looked up at her. "Maybe you should stay away from SBG."

"Why? I thought you said they were legit?"

"I said Abby's story checked out. There's a difference, doctor."

"Well, yeah, but she wouldn't have gone to the FBI if SBG had anything to hide, right? I mean, they would have looked into that, wouldn't they?"

"Probably. But that doesn't mean that there aren't any… rotten apples within the company that she doesn't know about." He studied her for a minute, then sighed. "Seems to me the person who sent this doesn't know you very well."

"Huh?"

"Well, you've already decided not to stay away. Despite the note. Or maybe even because of it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Weren't you the one who told me that you never walked away from a fight?"

"Mm." He had her there. And although she'd also once told him she didn't like riddles, mysteries and secrets, she had already made up her mind to get to the bottom of this particular one. Because bad apples or not, there were also people at SBG that she cared about… Her thoughts were interrupted by another heavy sigh from Nico.

"Dani, just promise me you won't sign anything until I've had a chance to do a little more digging on SBG."

"And how long will that take?"

"Depends." She had to resist rolling her eyes at his characteristic reply.

"On what, exactly?"

"On what there is to find."

"And do you have any ideas on what that might be?" Dani had a hard time keeping the impatience she felt out of her voice, and judging from his expression she hadn't succeeded completely.

"Well, for one, there may be remaining ties between SBG and V3 Global."

"Oh." She hadn't thought of that yet, and now she wondered why. V3 New York may have closed down, but she'd read in the paper that the other offices were still in business although they were having a hard time dealing with the fallout of the scandal. She didn't want to get caught in the middle of that again.

"Yeah, oh. So will you promise me now?" Nico tilted his head and raised his eyebrow at her.

"Oh, allright, I promise not to sign anything before I have all the facts. There. Happy now?"

"Reasonably." He studied her face for a moment, then reached out to put his hand at her nape and pull her closer to him. "I just want you safe, Dani," he said in a low voice, right before putting his lips on hers for the second time that evening. Dani gladly opened her mouth to grant him access. At first the kiss was different from the one they'd shared earlier that evening. In fact, it reminded Dani more of the very first kiss they'd shared almost two years ago. This kiss held the same tenderness, as they gingerly explored each others mouths. But then she heard him groan softly in the back of his throath and at the same time felt him gently pull up the hem of her sweater. She shuddered at the first touch of his hand on the bare skin of her lower back, and then the kiss simply… exploded, the world around them fading away for a while as they both tried to get as close to each other as possible, their hands seeming to be everywhere at once.  
Eventually though, they had to come up for air. As Dani leaned her forehead against his she gasped, "Nico… I really think… We should take this slow…"

"Slow sounds good…" He leaned into her again, but she gently pushed him away and sat up.

"No, listen… Nico!" She swatted his arm when he tried to pull her back. "Really, hasn't your mother ever taught you that you should, well, you know, wine and dine a lady first?" She rolled her eyes and laughed when he pointedly looked in the direction of their wine glasses on the coffee table. "I'm serious though." She glanced down.

"What are you suggesting?" She finally heard him ask.

"Well, you know, we never did have any official, uh, real dates…" He seemed to think about that for a while.

"You sure that lunch the other day doesn't count as one?" he tried. Smiling, she shook her head. "Well then, doctor, allow me to take you out on our very first date then. How about dinner tomorrow?"

"Sounds great."

"Allright, I'll pick you up at seven."

"I can't wait," she smiled, then let him pull her in for another kiss.

"I'd better go now," he whispered. "Before we ruin our chances of taking it slow…" She nodded reluctantly and blew out a heavy sigh. They got up and walked to the front door. He stepped outside, then turned back to her. "Thank you, Dani."

"Huh? For what?"

"For giving me… us… a second chance." With that, he turned and left.

* * *

When she lay in bed alone, Dani kind of regretted her decision to let him walk away when all she'd really wanted to do was drag him up to her bedroom and have her way with him. But she also still thought that it had been the right thing to do.  
Remembering that moment in her office when she'd watched all the blood drain out of his shocked face when he thought she believed that he would hurt her on purpose, her heart twisted. She wondered if he was even aware of the fact that in that moment he'd given her the missing piece of the puzzle that was Nico Careles. She also wondered how she could have missed it before, especially given her professional background. _You know what kind of man I am_, he had once said to her. He'd been right, she did know. He was an honest, loyal, deeply caring man. And, as he'd shown her over and over again, he was a protector. But he was also a terrified man. He really believed that he was capable of hurting the people he cared about… deliberately. His shutting her out had never been about protecting himself, it had been all about protecting her. Whenever she got too close to him, he started driving her away for fear of hurting her, not realizing that in the process he was only achieving the exact thing he wanted to avoid.  
Thus her decision to take it slow this time. Though their physical chemistry was off the charts hot, giving into it was also a way for Nico to keep their relationship in safe waters. After all, when they made love, there was no time for delving into anything more complex than their primal needs... Dani sighed, praying that she would have it in her to somehow muster up the self control it was gonna take to keep her hands off him until he was ready to leave his comfort zone and face his deepest fears.

* * *

Nico once again sat in his dark living room with a glass of scotch, thinking about the depth of the anger he had felt tonight. He still marveled at the way Dani had responded to that. Instead of being afraid of him, as she should have been, she had walked right up to him and hugged him, saying that he didn't have to hide. And he wanted to believe her, he really did. But having spent what seemed like a lifetime hiding, he wasn't sure he knew how to do anything else.

**A/N: Everyone still there? Good. Now for the bad news… I won't be able to do much writing this weekend, so the next update might take a little longer than usual. But I'll try not to make you wait too long!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Okay, I hope you're all still here. And that you'll be kind enough to review this chapter, because I love reading your opinions on the different plotlines. So, date night is coming up. Will Nico be able to open up to Dani a little more tonight? We'll see… But first, let's have a closer look at what that other mystery man in this story is up to.**

Chapter eight

The man with the grey eyes woke up at the crack of dawn to the annoying sound of his cellphone buzzing on the nightstand. He grasped for it, but knocked the damn thing to the ground instead. Cursing, he felt around for it on the floor, managing to unlock it and bring it to his ear just before the call would have gone to voicemail. "What?" he snarled, his voice still heavy with sleep and the effects of one too many drinks the night before.

"Oh, so you are alive. We were starting to worry about you…" said a deep, heavily accented voice that made cold sweat break out on his forehead.

"Um, yes, I'm sorry I fell out of touch… I've been busy lately."

"You did not forget about our deal, did you?"

"No – no! Of course not… It's just… Well, not been going as smoothly as I'd expected… I um, I'm gonna need a little more time…"

"Chernikov will not be happy when I tell him that. Why the delay?"

"There have been some… unforeseen complications."

"Meaning?"

"People that could become a… problem."

"Well, deal with them, then. Quickly. Chernikov wants what's his, and soon. He paid you the big bucks for a reason."

"Yes, I know. Tell him I will… deal with the problems today."

"That's a good boy." The man on the other end disconnected.

He threw the phone back on the nightstand and fell back to the mattress. Dammit, it would take him at least a week to get things set up at SBG! If only Bruce hadn't been so stubborn before. But that couldn't be helped, he had her exactly where he wanted her now. So now he just had to make sure that Santino wouldn't keep her appointment with Bruce, which was scheduled for tomorrow morning… And from what he'd witnessed last night, Careles had probably spent the night at the doctor's house, so it would probably be impossible to get to her there. But maybe… He sat up and reached for his phone again.

"Yeah, it's me. I've got another job for you. But it must be taken care of today. Can you do it?"

"What's the job?" As he told the man on the other end exactly what he wanted, he smiled a humorless smile. Yes, this would keep the doctor and her boyfriend away from SBG, at least for the time being.

* * *

Dani spent the whole sunday afternoon deciding what to wear to her date with Nico. She couldn't recall ever having been this nervous about a date before. Then again, she hadn't ever had a date like this one before. In the end she decided on a sleeveless black cocktail dress with a lacy neckline and a low back. Nico hadn't specified where he would take her, but she figured this dress would work for most restaurants. She checked her watch. It was almost six, which meant that it was around eleven a.m in Barcelona. She got her laptop out of her office and Skyped Jeanette, who let out a low wolf whistle when she saw Dani's outfit. "Wow, foxy lady! So… Who's the lucky guy?"

"Um, well, you remember um, Nico, don't you?" Dani felt a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Wait, what? Mystery Man's back? The one you just spent a whole month moping about?"

"I wasn't moping… Okay, yeah, I was – but I'm not anymore, see?" Dani smiled.

"Then what happened, Santino? Because last time I checked, you were all like _I never want to see his face again_ and stuff! And now you're going out with him?"

Dani told her friend most of what had happened in the last few days, and she could see Jeanette getting more excited by the minute.

"I knew it!" Jeanette squealed when Dani was done with the story.

"Knew what?"

"That the two of you were going to get back together! I just knew it, and now look at you, all happy and blushing! I am so happy for you, Dani… But you tell this guy something for me, allright?" Jeanettes face went all serious suddenly.

"Uh, okay, what is it?"

"That if he ever decides to break your heart again, he better run fast, because I will come find him and kick him in the _cojones_!" Dani pictured that for a moment and broke out laughing. Jeanette joined her, and for a minute it felt just like old times. Then Jeanette had to go because the baby was crying. "Now have fun tonight, you hear me? And call me tomorrow. I wanna hear details!"

* * *

Nico had spent a few hours checking out SBG, but hadn't been able to find anything suspicious yet. In his experience though, that didn't mean that there was nothing to find. He would just have to dig a little deeper. There were, of course, legal ways of doing that, but he'd found that those ways weren't always the fastest ones. So right before he left home to pick Dani up, he called Stanzi Palmer and asked him to hack into SBG's personnel and client files. It was gonna be a hell of a job to do background checks on each person that was working there, but Nico figured he'd start with Abby Bruce herself. Her story may have checked out, but that didn't mean miss Bruce didn't have anything else to hide. Palmer promised him hacking into the files would be a piece of cake and that he would have results in just a few hours.  
That settled, Nico got into his car. As he drove over to Dani's house, he found himself thinking about the night before, more specifically about the conversation they'd had in her office. _You can tell me anything, you don't have to hide_. If only it were that easy. But there was a darkness inside him that she didn't know about, that she wouldn't, couldn't, understand. He'd locked that part of himself away the day he'd left the SEALs, but it was still there. It always would be. And it was dangerous. That part of him, he would never tell her about. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't tell her a bit more about his life, he figured. And so he spent the rest of the drive mentally listing the things he could tell her about himself.

When she opened the door, he mentally cursed at the sight of her tight black dress. How the hell was he supposed to keep his hands off her when she looked like this? _Eyes up, Careles_, he scolded himself, and snapped them back to hers. "Hi," he managed, right before she went up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss.

"Hi yourself," she said with a nervous smile, then stepped outside and locked the door behind her.

"You look amazing." That earned him another smile.

"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself… So, where are we going?" She raised a hand, as if she was going to fidget with her hair, then seemed to catch herself in the act and dropped the hand again.

"You'll just have to wait and see, doctor." Nico managed to sound less like a nervous schoolboy and more like himself this time. He took her hand, bracing himself when he once again felt the electricity shoot through him as soon as he touched her, and led her to his car. Okay. He could do this… But he prayed to God that this taking-it-slow thing wasn't gonna take too long. Because never in his life had he wanted a woman more than he wanted this one right now.

* * *

"So, how are you enjoying our first date so far, doctor?" Dani saw Nico look at her with a soft smile on his face, and couldn't help smiling brightly in return. They had just finished their entrees and were now waiting for the main course.

"Well, I gotta hand it to ya, you really know how to impress a girl…" She let her gaze roam around the elegantly decorated white tablecloth restaurant filled with fancy looking people. She was glad she'd opted for this dress, as it fit in well with what other women in the restaurant were wearing.

"My sisters taught me well, then." Dani snapped her eyes back to Nico when he said that, pleasantly surprised that he had actually volunteered some information about himself.

"You have a sister?"

"More than one, actually. I'm the eldest of six. Three sisters, two brothers."

"Wow… So are you still close with all of them?"

"I used to be. Now? Not really." Nico looked like he was going to say more, but then he just shook his head and dropped his eyes to the table for a moment. Dani hesitated, then decided to take a chance. After all, he had once said that all she had to do was ask…

"What happened? If you don't mind me asking?"

"I joined the Navy when I was 22. Got shipped off to Iraq. After that, I did some… other things. Classified things," he added when he saw her curiosity. "When I got out, things were… Different between us." He shrugged.

"I'm sorry." Dani reached out and put her hand on one of his.

"Don't be. I'm used to it by now. How's your mother doing, by the way?" He turned over his hand and linked his fingers with hers. After a moment's hesitation she decided to go with his less-than-subtle attempt to change the subject. As she told him about her mother's latest adventures, however, a part of her mind kept wondering. Had he been the one to shut his family out or had it been the other way around? And did he think that the gap between them could ever again be bridged?

Halfway through the main course, Dani heard her phone buzz in her purse. Not wanting to be rude, she chose to let the call go to voicemail. But when it started buzzing again immediately, she reluctantly got it out and looked at the display. The call was from a blocked number. It could be one of her patients.  
"Do you mind?" she asked Nico, but he was already motioning for her to go ahead. "Hello?" she said into the phone.

"Is this Doctor Santino?" A woman asked.

"Yes, who's this?"

Nico felt his heart start to pound rapidly as Dani's eyes went wide and all the blood drained away from her face while she listened to the person on the other end. From her short, stammered replies he soon figured out it was a medical emergency. Her mother, maybe? He seemed to recall that she'd had a heart attack before… He reached across the table to grab Dani's free hand and glared at an elderly couple at the next table, who were rudely trying to listen in on the phonecall. They looked at him nervously, then dropped their eyes to their plates. When Nico looked at Dani again, he saw that she had ended the call and was now staring at the table. "Dani?" No response. He squeezed her hand, startling her. "Dani, look at me. Tell me what happened."

"I've got to get to the hospital."

"Is it your mother?" Nico asked. But when he saw the look in her eyes, he knew it wasn't.

"No… it's Lindsay, they said she was hit by a car and… Oh God, my baby's hurt!"  
Nico wasted no time in getting her outside and then into the car, ignoring the waiter that ran after them to stop them from leaving without paying. "Which hospital?" he asked as he got behind the wheel. She gave him the name of the hospital and he pulled out of the parking lot, his stomach clenching at the sight of Dani hugging herself while staring through the windshield.

* * *

Making her way across the hospital parking lot, Dani had a vague notion that this had to be a nightmare, because she was running and yet the entrance to the ER didn't seem to get any closer. Then, suddenly, she was there. Breathing hard, she came to a stop in front of the nurses station. Before she could catch her breath, she heard Nico's terse voice give the nurse Lindsay's name. She felt his arm slide around her and gratefully leaned against him. "The doctor is in with her now. You can wait over there by the coffee machine," the nurse said.

"Will she be allright?" Dani asked.

"I don't know, Mrs. Santino. You'll have to wait for the doctor. I'm sorry."

Ten minutes went by in silence while they sat in the waiting area, Nico's arm around her shoulders offering quiet support. Dani kept repeating the same phrases in her head over and over again as she watched the minutes on the clock tick away ever so slowly. _She'll be okay. Lindsay's strong, she'll be okay_… Another fifteen minutes passed, and Dani couldn't just sit there anymore. She got up and started pacing. Then a door opened and a doctor came out. "Who's here for Lindsay Santino?" he asked, and Dani froze, suddenly afraid to respond to his question, terrified of what he might say. She sensed Nico coming up behind her, and then he pulled her against him. She turned around and hid her face against his chest as the doctor approached.  
"Mrs. Santino? Your daughter is going to be just fine, I promise." For a moment, she couldn't grasp what he was saying to her. Then relief flooded her as she heard him continue. It seemed that Lindsay had a concussion, some broken ribs and a broken leg, but that she'd been lucky overall. "She must have seen the car coming and tried to get out of the way. It could have been a lot worse," he said. He wanted to keep her here for observation though, to make sure that no internal damage was done.

* * *

When she walked into her daughter's room, Dani felt her throat close up and her stomach sink as she took in the sight of Lindsay's bruised face and the bandage around her head. "Lindsay? Honey? Can you hear me?" she whispered as she took her daughter's hand in her own.

"Mom?" Lindsay opened her eyes and Dani felt like laughing and crying at the same time.

"Yes sweetie, it's me, I'm here…" She watched as her daughter took in the room with a slightly confused look in her eyes. Then her gaze seemed to catch on something behind Dani, and a small smile appeared on her face.

"Mom?" she whispered again, and Dani leaned closer to hear what she had to say. "That… him?" Dani frowned in confusion. "Date…" Lindsay managed, and Dani released a surprised chuckle as she realized that her daughter was looking at Nico, who stood in the doorway.

"Yes, honey, Nico's my date." Lindsay squeezed her hand and smiled again, and then Dani saw her eyes close, her face relaxing into sleep.

Nico breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the girl smiling at him. Dani kissed her forehead and then stood up and turned to him. She looked tired, and his heart twisted. He walked over to her and took her in his arms. She leaned against him heavily, and he heard her release a shaky sigh. "Let's get you home," he whispered, and she tensed.

"I can't leave her like this," she whispered back.

"Sure you can. They will take good care of her." He tried to lead her out of the room, but she resisted. "Dani, you need to get some rest, okay? You can come back first thing tomorrow, sweetheart." When she nodded, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and led her out of the room.

* * *

Dani fell asleep as soon as Nico pulled out of the hospital parking lot, and didn't wake up again until he parked in her driveway. The nap hadn't done much to take away her fatigue, but at least she felt less numb now. She took off her seatbelt and felt Nico's hand closing over hers. "You allright?" he asked. She opened her mouth to say something, but her throat closed up and at the same time his face became all blurry as the tears she'd been holding in all night finally started to fall. She covered her face with her hands and was only vaguely aware of him opening the door on his side and getting out of the car. Then the door on her side opened and he was there, pulling her into his embrace. She held on tight to him while letting go of her bottled up emotions.  
When she finally looked up again, Dani found Nico looking at her with such tenderness and compassion that she just couldn't stop herself from dropping a soft kiss on his lips. It was over in a heartbeat, but it made her feel better. And in that moment she knew she didn't want to be alone tonight, tossing and turning in her bed while trying to deal with her emotions all by herself for the umpteenth time in her life. She'd be strong again tomorrow. Tonight, she just wanted him to hold her. As if he'd read her mind he wiped a tear from her cheek and whispered, "What do you need from me?" She wanted to tell him, but then hesitated. Could she ask that of him? After telling him – had that really been only yesterday? – that she wanted to take it slow, did she have the right to ask him to spend the night with her, even if it was just to hold her? Then he spoke again, "Don't overthink. Tell me what you need, Dani." She dropped her eyes from his and took a deep, shaky breath.

"Please stay with me tonight?" she whispered, relieved when he nodded almost immediately.

They went inside the house, and Dani went into the family room to call her son, her mother and her ex-husband, while Nico stayed in the kitchen to make a phonecall of his own. He felt the need to know exactly what had happened to Lindsay and what was being done about it, so he called an old friend at the NYPD. What he learned, pissed him off. Lindsay had apparently been hit when she'd been walking back home from a friend's house and a speeding car had somehow swerved in her direction. According to a neighbour, who'd seen the accident happen, the car hadn't even slowed down after it had hit Lindsay. The driver had just swerved back onto the road and kept driving, probably too drunk to even notice he'd hit someone. Unfortunately, the neighbour hadn't been able to get a good look at the car and could only describe it as a 'dark sedan', which didn't exactly narrow things down. The police didn't hold out much hope for catching the guy, and neither did Nico. He thanked the cop and ended the call, then proceeded to make Dani a cup of strong tea. He could hear her talking in the family room, the hint of irritation in her voice telling him she was now talking to her ex. He searched the kitchen cabinets while he waited for her to end the call, looking for scotch and a glass, but came up emptyhanded. _So tea it is_, he thought with a wry smile as he poured himself a cup.

When Nico walked into the family room, he found Dani sitting on the couch leaning forward while massaging her temples. He put the steaming cups on the coffee table, and she looked up with a weary smile. "Thanks." He sat down next to her and put his hand on her tense shoulder.

"Turn," he said, and gently tugged at her shoulder until her back was to him. He started massaging her shoulders. She let out a sigh and bent her head forward to give him better access. Gradually, he felt her tense muscles loosen up and relax.  
When the tension was almost completely gone, Nico let his hands slide down Dani's arms and around her waist, pulling her onto his lap so she could rest her head on his chest while his hand rubbed her back in a purely comforting way. That seemed to relax her even more and it made him glad he could do this for her. Then she let out a soft moan and raised her eyes to his. He became acutely aware of the feel of her body pressed against his in all the right places. "This feels so good," she whispered, voicing his exact thoughts.  
"Want to feel even better?" he whispered back without thinking. Her eyes widened and she bit her bottom lip, hesitating. Then she dropped her eyes and nodded slowly.

Dani had expected Nico to lean in and kiss her then, so she let out a surprised gasp as he gathered her in his arms and stood up from the couch. "Relax," he whispered, and she felt her body obey, even as her mind was anxiously awaiting his next move. Was this really a good idea? Should she tell him to put her down? That she hadn't meant for him to do anything other than kiss her? Somehow, she couldn't get the words out. And she realized that it might not be a good idea, but she really wanted to go with it nonetheless.

* * *

Effortlessly, Nico carried her up the stairs and to her bedroom, where he laid her down on the bed gently. He lay down next to her, leaning on his elbow and pulling her close again. And then he did kiss her, and Dani stopped thinking. As soon as his lips touched hers, she let her arms slide around his neck, trying to pull him even closer to her, but he resisted. His tongue traced the seam of her lips, and she opened them, allowing him access to her mouth. But when she tried to deepen the kiss, she felt him resisting again. He pulled back slightly and she opened her eyes to look at him. "Let's take this slow," he whispered, before closing the distance between them again. She closed her eyes and let the sensation of him kissing her take over her mind.  
She shivered as his lips traced a path across her cheek and his tongue lightly touched her earlobe, then moaned as he kissed his way down the side of her neck and across her collarbone to the hollow at the base of her throat. His hand, that had been resting on the side of her ribcage, slowly moved to the underside of her breast, cupping it gently through her dress. Because of the low back she wasn't wearing a bra, and his touch seemed to burn right through the thin fabric. Her nipples hardened in anticipation and she arched her back, but then she felt his hand slide down across her stomach and to her hip. Her moan of disappointment became one of pleasure when Nico pulled up the hem of the dress, caressing her skin as he did it. His hand cupped her breast again, and again she arched into it. She gasped his name as his fingers finally found her nipple, sending what felt like a bolt of lightning straight to her core.  
"I want you out of this dress," she heard him whisper then, and she totally agreed with that sentiment. So she sat up a little and helped him remove the dress, shivering a little as cool air touched her heated skin. Then she shuddered as Nico bent his head and sealed his lips to hers again while his hand resumed caressing her breasts. She had just brought her hand up to his chest, trying to open the top buttons of his shirt, when suddenly he pulled her body flush against his, rolled her to her back and broke their kiss. But before she could protest, he leaned on his elbows and bent his head. She felt his tongue lightly circling her nipple and all protests were wiped out of her mind as she tangled her fingers in his hair to pull him closer. He obliged, sucking gently and then turning his attention to her other breast.  
Dani got lost in sensations for a while as she gave herself up to Nico's gentle strokes, licks and caresses. He seemed to know exactly where to touch her to make her shiver and moan and move restlessly, but he took his sweet time in moving his hand to where she wanted it most. He touched her stomach, making the muscles jump, but then let his hand slide to the side of her hip, while his lips and tongue followed the path it had taken. Dani wanted to scream in frustration yet enjoyed the anticipation too much to have it end to soon, and he seemed to understand that perfectly.  
Then, at last, his hand moved between her legs, stroking her lightly through the lacy fabric of her panties. Her hips bucked violently in an effort to intensify the contact and she was dimly aware of him groaning softly, right before he pulled her panties down and slid a finger inside of her. "Yesss," she heard herself hiss as her hips bucked off the bed again. His mouth came down on hers again and his hand started moving in a slow, tantalizing rhythm that had her on the edge in no time – but didn't push her over. She started moving frantically, trying to get him to pick up speed or increase the friction, or both. But he kept on teasing her, until she felt like she was going to explode. "Nico, please…" she managed to gasp. And then she flew apart, scattering into a million pieces when he finally pressed the button that sent her over the edge in a free fall that seemed to go on for years.

Nico had never seen anything more beautiful than Dani coming apart in his arms. It was even worth not doing anything about his own need to have her… He kept caressing her until the last waves of pleasure died down and she relaxed completely, a smile on her face. When she opened her eyes he gave her a smile in return. "Feel better now?" he whispered, and she nodded.  
"Much," she said. Then she yawned. Nico lay down on his back and took her with him, so she was lying with her head on his chest. He pulled the covers up so she wouldn't get cold. When he felt her hand go to the buttons of his shirt, he stopped it by placing his own hand over hers.  
"Tonight was just for you, sweetheart," he said, hushing her when she wanted to protest. Then he kissed the top of her head. "Try to get some sleep now." For a moment she seemed to hesitate, but then she yawned again and relaxed against him. Nico closed his eyes, simply savoring this moment with her as he, too, started drifting off into sleep.

**A/N: Well, we have a new record, people! This chapter is well over 4,000 words long. But I just couldn't find it in my heart to leave you hanging yet again ;) Please tell me what you think! I was reluctant to write a love scene at first, beacuse I had never done it before. Also, I started out with this story trying to be as true to the original show as possible, and love scenes were never played out on screen. But then I figured, this isn't the original show and there has to be a first time for everything. The scene you just (hopefully) enjoyed was the result of that line of thought.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine

The room was still dark when Dani woke up. A glance at the alarm clock told her it was only 5.15, yet she felt completely alert and awake. She was lying on her side, Nico spooning her. She could feel his bare skin against her own, so he must have gotten up at some point during the last few hours, finally taking off his clothes. Smiling, she closed her eyes again, not wanting to leave his embrace although she knew that sleep would elude her for the rest of the night. Her mind had gone into overdrive the minute she'd woken up, and that didn't surprise her after everything that had happened last night. First and foremost in the thoughts running through her head was of course Lindsay. Despite the doctor saying it could have been a lot worse, Dani hadn't yet been able to shake the feeling that she'd come very close to losing her daughter last night. Her stomach clenched when she remembered Lindsay lying in the hospital bed, and the fear she'd felt right before that, when the doctor had come walking towards her, giving her the kind of grave look that usually did not accompany good news.  
When Nico stirred a little, flexing his arm and pulling her closer to him, she was immediately reminded of how he'd done the same thing in the hospital, first at the nurses station and then when the doctor had come out. He'd literally had her back the entire evening. _Tell me what you need_, he'd said, but he'd already known. Unlike any of the other men she'd had in her life, he always knew. She squinted when that thought made her remember Ray and the way he'd reacted when she'd called him to give him the news about Lindsay. He'd sounded annoyed when he answered the phone, after letting it go to voicemail three times in a row. Apparently he'd been in the middle of something – some_one_, she corrected herself, remembering the breathless sounding voice in the background asking 'Ray-baby' who was on the phone – and wasn't happy that she was interrupting him. But then, when he heard the reason why she called, he had the balls to start yelling at her for not calling her as soon as she'd found out about Lindsay herself. She had put the phone down on the couch beside her, waiting for him to finish, had then picked it up again and politely told him to call the hospital for further information because she was done listening to him ranting. Then she'd simply hung up on him and put the phone underneath one of the throw pillows on the couch so she wouldn't be tempted to pick it up if and when he called back to rant some more.  
Come to think of it, she should actually get up and go find the darn thing, before she missed any important phonecalls. Like the hospital. Or Ray Jay, informing her what flight he was going to arrive on. Her son had insisted on coming home, even though she'd tried to reassure him that it wasn't necessary, since Lindsay was gonna be just fine. But he hadn't wanted to hear it. And, to be honest, she hadn't resisted his idea to get on the next flight into New York all _that_ much either. If Lindsay's accident hadn't been the reason, she would actually have been thrilled that her baby was finally coming home again, albeit probably just temporary.  
Dani carefully lifted Nico's arm and slid out of bed. With a groan he rolled onto his back, mumbling something unintelligible. She slipped on her robe and went downstairs to go grab her phone, thinking she might get herself an early cup of tea too.

Dani had just put on the kettle and picked up the cups of now cold tea that were still sitting on her coffee table from the night before when she heard Nico's voice coming from the bedroom. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but he sounded… angry? Frowning, she put the teacups on the counter and went upstairs again. When she entered the bedroom, she found him thrashing around in the bed, muttering in a language she didn't understand. Or maybe it wasn't even a real language, just the garbled-up speech that most people used when talking in their sleep. As Dani quietly approached the bed, he seemed to calm down again. She walked over to his side of the bed and stood looking down at him for a moment in the light that came from the hallway, trying to decide if she should wake him up. Just when she thought he was sleeping peacefully again, he resumed his muttering. Instead of anger though, there was now an anxiety in his voice that she'd never heard from him before and that chilled her to the bone as his face was contorted in pain and fear. She reacted instinctively by putting a hand on his shoulder, the back of her mind registering the fact that his skin was covered in sweat, and softly called his name. When he didn't react, she shook him a little more forcefully. He just kept right on muttering and started violently rolling his head from side to side. She tried a third time, now with her hands on both his shoulders and repeating his name in a louder voice. She was completely unprepared when he suddenly roared and bolted upright, bringing his hands up to shove her away. Dani lost her balance and stumbled backwards before landing on her butt on the floor. She let out a surprised gasp, followed by a grunt when her left wrist came in painful contact with the nightstand, sending the lamp and the knick-knacks sitting there crashing into each other.  
For a few moments, the only sound in the room was Nico's erratic breathing as Dani saw him forcefully shake his head as if trying to clear it. Then he seemed to realize where he was, and she saw him flinch when his gaze landed on her.

When Nico saw Dani looking up at him from the floor while gingerly massaging her wrist, his stomach sank and he metally cursed himself. He hadn't had any nightmares for weeks, but he should have seen this one coming a mile away. The nightmares always got worse when tension or emotions were running high. And last night had been an emotional roller coaster. Why the hell hadn't he moved his ass over to the guestroom as soon as Dani had fallen asleep? Now look at what he'd done…

"Nico? Are you alright?" Her soft voice startled him, and he couldn't hold back a snort of disbelief. She was the one who got hurt and she was asking him if he was okay?

"Fine." He couldn't keep the resentment he felt for himself out of his tone, and her eyebrows rose when she heard it. Bile rose in his throat and suddenly he had to get out of this room, away from her questioning look. He threw back the covers and bolted from the bed, almost tripping over his own feet on his way to the relative safety of the adjoining bathroom. As he locked the door behind him and leaned heavily against it, with his eyes closed and his jaw clenched tight, he heard her call out his name in a worried voice. He startled when she rattled the doorknob.  
"Nico? Open the door… please." He cursed under his breath and pushed himself away from the door, entering the shower cabin and closing that door behind him too. Feeling effectively locked in, he turned on the shower and started to fight the darkness that had been relased by his nightmare back into submission.

* * *

Dani stood there for minutes that felt like hours. When she heard the shower turn on, a heavy sigh escaped her. Apparently he needed some time to get himself back under control. She could give him that. But eventually they would need to talk about what just happened, and she knew he wouldn't want to. Her heart ached for him when she remembered the anger in his voice. She realized, of course, that he was angry with himself rather than with her. The first thing she meant to do when he got out of that bathroom, was make him see that she was fine. A bruise had started forming on her wrist, and it actually did kind of hurt, but it wasn't like she hadn't ever had bruises before. More important, she would make Nico see that it wasn't his fault that she'd fallen. She should have known better than to try and wake him up when he was in the middle of a nightmare. He had merely reacted on instinct, trying to defend himself against whoever or whatever had been terrorizing him in his dream. Trying to come up with a way to make him understand that, she walked downstairs again and resumed making herself tea.  
When she walked into the family room, she remembered her phone and lifted the pillow she'd left it under. Unlocking the phone, she saw a couple of missed calls from Ray, one from Ray Jay and one from a blocked number. Her heart picked up speed as she realized that the call from the blocked number could be from the hospital. She put her teacup down, her hands trembling, and dialed voicemail. The computer informed her that she had six new messages. The first four were from Ray doing some more ranting and whining, and she erased each of those messages before they'd played in their entirety. The next message was from Ray Jay, telling her that he'd be arriving at JFK tonight around seven. She saved that message, then anxiously waited for the last message. "Good morning, Doctor," a man's voice said in a loud whisper. His next words chilled her to the bone. "I heard your daughter had an accident… Don't you wish that you would have listened to my advice about your new employer now?" There was a pause, and then the voice continued, "If I were you, I would stay out of my way, or next time it won't end so well…"  
Dani replayed the message three times, then carefully put the phone down on the coffee table and just stared at it. She was still staring when Nico came down the stairs ten minutes later.

* * *

The man with the grey eyes knew he had taken a risk by calling the good doctor, but he'd wanted to make completely sure that she understood the risk she herself would be taking by showing up at SBG today. His time was running out, with the trial date being only two weeks away and Chernikov's lapdog breathing down his neck. There simply wasn't enough time for him to be worrying about the doctor and her pittbull of a boyfriend on top of everything else he had to deal with. Which reminded him, he should check on the girl. He had instructed her captor that he was to leave her completely unharmed and intact, and to take good care of her while also making sure she wouldn't escape from the abandoned house where they held her. But the man was still nothing more than hired muscle, and therefore not the brightest intellect around. There was no harm in making absolutely sure that the guy followed his orders to the letter. The man with the grey eyes was not above using whatever means necessary to get what he wanted, but he was no monster. After all, a monster would have had the Santino girl killed, instead of merely hospitalizing her with a few broken bones.

* * *

Having regained at least some of his self control, Nico got dressed quickly and went downstairs. Dani wasn't in the kitchen, so he walked straight on to the family room, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw her rigidly sitting on the couch, glaring at her phone on the coffee table. _Whoa. She looks pissed… At me?_ He opened his mouth to say her name, then closed it again when she glanced up. There was a glint of steel in her eyes that only softened slightly when she saw him. "It was no accident, Nico." He heard the same steel in her voice. Before he could ask her what she meant Dani stood up, picking up her phone, and walked over to where he was standing. She handed him the device. "Listen to my voicemail. I'm gonna get dressed. Then we're going to the hospital." She stepped past him before he could stop her, walking briskly through the kitchen and up the stairs.  
Stunned, Nico selected voicemail from her recent call list. He brought the phone to his ear and listened, immediately understanding Dani's anger. When the message ended he replayed it, pacing through the kitchen as he tried to focus on the voice rather than the content of the message. He had the feeling that there was something familiar about the whispering voice, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Yet.

Nico got out his own cellphone and called Stanzi Palmer. "You have something for me?" he said without preamble.

"Everything you asked for, in fact. Personnel files, client files, financial records, the whole shebang. Told you it would be a piece of cake, dude! Boy, these guys really need to update their security – there was a gap in their firewall as big as…" Nico hung up on the hacker. He didn't have time to chat.

Just when Nico had ended his phonecall he heard Dani coming down the stairs again. She walked into the kitchen and picked up her purse from the bar. "Can I have my phone back?" Nico handed it to her. "Okay, let's go." She turned around to head for the front door, but Nico stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"How's the wrist?" he asked when she turned back to him.

For a moment, she didn't seem to know what he was talking about. Then she lifted her left hand, flexed her fingers and rolled her hand. "Just fine. See? Can we go now? I want, no, I _need_ to see my daughter."

* * *

When Nico pulled out of her driveway, Dani glanced at him from the passenger seat. His jaw was clenched and he was looking straight ahead. "I'm sorry I snapped at you," she said.

"I'm sorry I hurt you." His voice was flat as he said it.

"Nico, you have nothing to apologize for." He snorted at that. "Really, my wrist is fine, and it's not like you meant to hurt me. You acted on instinct, so what? Everyone does that when they're woken from a nightmare. When Ray Jay was little, he once punched me in the eye when I woke him." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"I'm not a little boy, doctor. I could have done a lot more damage." Dani winced a little when she heard him use her title in that distant tone. But she wouldn't let him distance himself from her this time, not after last night. She put her hand on his arm to let him know that.

"But you didn't. That's what matters, right?"

"Sure." Nico abruptly took his hand off the wheel to shift gears, forcing her to pull her own hand back and pretending not to notice. Dani sighed. Apparently he wasn't ready to talk about it yet. And it was only because they were coming up on the hospital that she decided to let him off the hook for now.

* * *

An hour later, Dani was practically fuming with rage again. Lindsay, who had obviously been in a lot of pain, had told them how she'd heard the car coming and how she had gotten as far out of it's way as possible, thinking the driver maybe hadn't seen her because it was dark. Only to look over her shoulder and see that bastard coming right at her. Dani was going to make him pay for that. Now, all she had to do was find him. As she walked out of the hospital, Nico following her, she took out her phone. It just so happened that she knew exactly who to call to get answers.

"Who are you calling?" Nico asked, coming up to walk beside her.

"Abby Bruce." Dani pushed Send and waited.

"Dani…" She held up her hand to cut Nico off when Abby answered the phone.

"Abby, this is Dani Santino. Would you mind telling me why someone is trying to keep me away from SBG?" she said into the phone.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Abby asked, after a second of silence.

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I mean. And if not, I suggest you start thinking about it right now. Because I'm on my way over, and you better have answers for me by the time I get there." Dani shoved her phone back into her purse and walked around Nico's car. She opened the door and got in, fastened her seatbelt and crossed her arms. Nico got in too, but he didn't start the engine. Instead, he just looked at her with his eyebrow raised in question. Dani sighed. "I need to talk to Abby, Nico."

"No, Dani. You need to let the police handle this."

"And I will. After I talk to Abby. Now drive, please." When he still didn't start the car, she unfastened her seatbelt again. "Fine. I'll just take a cab then." She opened the door, but before she could get out, he grabbed her by the wrist to stop her. His grip wasn't strong, but it was her left wrist and Dani hissed in pain before she could stop herself. Nico pulled back his hand as if he'd burned it. For a second, they both froze. Then Dani slowly turned her head to look at Nico, her stomach dropping when she saw the horror in his eyes. "Nico…" she reached out to him but he pulled away, turning his head forward and starting the car. She dropped her hand, trying to figure out how to make this right, coming up empty.

"Close the door. I'll drive you." Nico's voice sounded completely flat as he kept staring straight ahead, waiting for her to close the door.

**A/N: Okay, so this wasn't where I had expected this chapter to end, and I'm sorry to leave you hanging like this… (*author once again ducks for cover*) Next update will probably be saturday or sunday. Please don't hesitate to tell me what you think of this chapter, and thank you for reviewing the previous chapters!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, they are really inspiring! Okay, so I thought it was about time for some revelations on the mystery part of this story. Here goes.**

Chapter ten

Nico glanced at Dani out of the corner of his eye as they walked across the street that separated them from SBG. Her face had taken on the determined expression he'd come to know so well over the last few years. The look that said, I want answers and I want them right now. Her stubbornness never ceased to amaze him, but it also worried him. That side of her had her throwing caution to the wind and walking into volatile situations without giving so much as a single thought to her own wellbeing. Like this morning in her bedroom. And right now, of course. She had to know being here was dangerous, but that didn't stop her. Just like she had to at least suspect now how dangerous Nico himself was, yet that hadn't stopped her from touching him, trying to get closer to him physically as well as emotionally. He knew how to protect her from the physical dangers that lurked at SBG, but he'd be damned if he knew how to protect her from himself. _Yes you do, Careles_, his mind promptly insisted. And of course he did. What he didn't know was if he had it in him to pay the price of keeping her safe from him…

"Yo, Doctor D! What's up?" Startled, Nico looked up to see TK coming out the door to SBG. Beside the wide receiver a pretty girl smiled at them, blushing. Nico thought he'd seen her at V3 a couple of times. Wasn't she a physical therapist or something? If so, then what was she doing at SBG now? He blinked when his mind caught up with what his eyes had registered a second ago. TK and the girl had been holding hands when they'd come out, then quickly let go when they caught sight of Dani and Nico. Why did TK suddenly feel the need to hide who he was dating? Nico wondered.

"Hello, Terrence. Hello, um…" Dani's voice trailed off while she tried to come up with the name of the girl.

"India. My, uh, PT," TK supplied.

"Right. Hi, India. Sorry, no time to chat!" Dani hurried into the SBG lobby.

"Doctor D, wait! We… Oh, hey Sneako! Why you guys in such a hurry?"

"Not now, TK." Nico walked right past the wide receiver, following Dani inside, making a mental note to check up on this India. She had after all worked at the V3 Clinic, which put her right in the middle of the IGF-1 scandal…

* * *

Dani once again sat at the conference table across from Abby Bruce, while Nico had opted to stand by the door of the office as if he were some kind of guard or something. Dani looked at Abby, noting the hint of dark circles under the woman's eyes that make-up hadn't been able to conceal completely. There was no trace of the warm smile she'd worn a few days ago. In fact, Abby's face didn't reveal any emotions whatsoever, as if she'd put on a mask. Dani gave her a stern look. "So, Abby, this would be the time where you start telling me exactly what's going on here."

"Well, it's actually quite simple, Doctor Santino. You will have to start looking for another job, as the job I offered you will probably be no longer available." Abby looked away as Dani crossed her arms, frowning.

"Really. And why is that?"

"Because I'm going to sell SBG. And I suspect the new owner will not want you around." Dani blinked. Where had this come from?

"Well, that's quite the curveball."

"Not really, just the way business works. Someone… made an offer I couldn't refuse. I'm sorry." Abby suddenly stood up. "So, Doctor, if you don't mind, I have business to attend to now…"

"Well, actually I do mind, Abby. Sit down." Dani allowed some of the fury that was still raging around inside her to seep into her voice. Abby's eyebrows shot up when she heard it, and she sat back down immediately. "Good girl. Now, I want you to listen to something and then tell me a name." Dani took her phone out of her purse and put it on the table between them. She dialed voicemail and the message started playing. Dani saw Abby's face grow paler with every whispered word, heard her quiet gasp as the man talked about Lindsay. "So, Abby…" she said when the message had ended. "Care to tell me who this is and why he apparently felt the need to run over my daughter? Because, you know, I would really like to get my hands on that bastard." Dani smiled sweetly, leaned back and looked at Abby expectantly.

"Son of a bitch…" Abby muttered.

"My thoughts exactly. So, a name would be nice."

"Troy Cutler."

Dani's couldn't keep her jaw from dropping. And not just because of the name itself. Adding to her shock was the fact that the answer hadn't come from Abby. Judging by the woman's flinch however, it was still the right answer. Dani snapped her eyes to Nico as he continued, "I knew I'd heard that voice before somewhere." He walked across the room and took a seat next to Dani, leaning forward to fix Abby with his stare. "Now I suggest you tell us exactly what's going on here, Miss Bruce." Abby sighed heavily and looked down at the table for a few seconds. Then she looked back up at Dani.

"Two weeks ago, Troy Cutler called me. Said he wanted to do business with me…" Dani held up a hand to stop her.

"Wait. Last time I checked, Troy Cutler was in jail. Right?" she asked Nico, who nodded.

"Yeah, well, he got himself released somehow. I don't know how, okay? And trust me, I'd rather see him rot in jail than sell my business to him," Abby snapped.

"So… Troy is the one you're selling to?" Dani felt more confused by the minute.

"Well, not exactly. But he has a… business partner or something, that wants to buy SBG. I suspect that he'll make Troy CEO or something." Abby shrugged. "Great way to get back at me, right? For betraying him to the FBI. Oh, and to Connor, let's not forget that. Ugh, I _knew_ I should have stayed away from V3…" Dani rolled her eyes at the sound of self-pity in Abby's voice. But something didn't add up here.

"I still don't understand. If you don't want to sell, he can't make you, right?" she said. Abby suddenly tensed and dropped her eyes.

"It's like I said… He made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

"Miss Bruce." Nico's voice was quiet yet demanding, and Dani watched Abby reluctantly raise her eyes to meet his. "What exactly is in this deal for you?" A tense silence followed his question. Then Abby closed her eyes on a heavy sigh.

"My sister, okay? He promised to let her go the moment the deal is done." _What the hell?_ Dani was at a loss for words, and a sidelong glance at Nico told her he hadn't seen that one coming either. She looked back at Abby, who continued, "So, as I was saying, Troy called me two weeks ago to say this guy, Yuri something, wanted to buy SBG. Of course, I laughed. Then he got mad, saying I owed him for ruining everything. I said I owed him nothing and hung up. The next day, the first package came…" Abby's voice trailed off and her eyes took on a far away look.

"What package?" Dani asked.

"A framed picture was delivered to my mailbox at home. It was a picture of Jenny and me… Jenny's my sister… a picture of us walking in a mall. We went shopping there the saturday before, he must have followed us or something… Anyway, there was a note with it, asking me which I loved more, SBG or my kid sister… A few hours later he called again, asking if we could do business now. I told him no again, and said that if he contacted me again, I'd go to the FBI. He hung up."

"So did you go to the FBI?" Nico asked. Abby shook her head. "Why not?"

"Well, you know Troy. He likes to bluff…"

"He _threatened_ you and your sister!" Dani couldn't help but interject. She really couldn't understand why Abby hadn't gone straight to agent Bennett with this.

"Look Doctor, of course I seriously considered going to the FBI. But Troy seemed to back off after that. I didn't hear from him again for days. Then the second package arrived. Right here, the day after you came to see me."

"What was in it?" Nico asked. Abby nodded in the direction of her desk, where a photo frame was sitting. Dani got up and went to look at the picture. It showed a young girl sitting underneath a tree while holding an iPad. She showed it to Nico. Abby reached out and took it from her, looking at it while she continued talking.

"Jenny on campus. Columbia. The note said this picture would be the last I ever saw of her if I went to the FBI. I tried to call her all day, couldn't reach her. I went to her dorm that night, but no one had seen her that day. I tried to tell myself he was bluffing, that he didn't, couldn't have taken her. I tried calling Troy too, must have tried a dozen times, but he didn't pick up. Then I started calling all Jenny's friends, asking them if they'd seen her. One girl said she'd heard Jenny mention something about going on some camping trip and I just… Grabbed on to that, telling myself that that must be it, you know? She went on the trip and forgot her phone..." Abby put the photoframe down on the table and rubbed a hand over her eyes. Dani watched her as she took a deep breath and visibly tried to compose herself. Abby looked up again. "I lay awake all night, hoping and praying Jenny was safe. But the next day, Troy called. Said he had something of mine and that if I wanted it back, I'd better be prepared to make a trade." Abby's eyes went from Nico to Dani as she shrugged and said, "So, to answer your earlier question, doctor… Yes, Troy Cutler _can_ make me sell SBG even if I don't want to." Dani looked from Abby to Nico and saw her own questions reflected in his eyes. Then Abby released a sigh. "Look, I know what you're thinking. And no, I can't be sure that Troy will really let Jenny go… But don't you see? As long as there's even the slightest chance that he will, I can't risk going to the FBI…"

* * *

"So now what do we do?" Dani asked Nico when they were back in the car. They'd tried to make Abby see that she should go to the FBI no matter what, but hadn't been able to convince her. And Dani couldn't even blame her for it, since she wasn't sure she would have gone to the authorities had she been in Abby's situation.

"_We_ do nothing. You're going home and let me handle this." Dani rolled her eyes at Nico's reply. She should have seen that coming.

"Okay, let me rephrase my question then, what are _you_ gonna do?"

"Drive you home." He put the car in Drive and pulled into traffic.

"Nico!" She crossed her arms and gave him a stern look, but it was wasted since he didn't take his eyes off the road.

They drove the rest of the way in silence. After he'd parked in her driveway, Nico surprised Dani by shutting down the engine and getting out of the car too. "I thought you were gonna handle the… situation now?"

"I am. Just want to make sure you're safe first." He took his phone from his pocket while he walked her up to the house. "Xeno, I need you at Doctor Santino's house." He listened for a moment, then ended the call and pocketed his phone again. "He'll be here in fifteen. Now unlock the door. I want to check the house before I leave."  
Dani followed Nico around the house nervously, as he checked every room and closet without finding anything out of the ordinary. When they finally got back to the kitchen, she heard a car coming up her driveway. Nico looked outside. "Xeno's here." He walked to the front door, reaching out to open it.

"Oh no you don't. Hold it right there, mister." Dani leaned against the bar, crossing her arms and frowning as he looked back at her.

"What?"

"You thought you could just leave?"

"I've got things to do."

"Yeah. I know. But we have some unfinished business too. You do realize we need to talk about this morning at some point, right?" She watched him look down at the floor. He raked a hand through his hair and looked up at her again, releasing a sigh.

"We'll talk later." He turned to the door again.

"Not so fast!" She walked up to him this time. When he looked at her again, she smiled. "Don't I get a kiss?" He froze for a moment, then leaned in to drop a quick peck on her lips. Before she could pull him closer, he pulled away and walked out the door. "Hey… Hey! So we'll talk tonight?" she called after him, but he didn't respond. She saw him exchange a few words with Xeno, who lifted his hand to her in greeting. She waved, then watched Nico get into his car and drive away without looking back. Dani sighed heavily and leaned against the door. When she saw Xeno giving her a questioning look, she shook her head and went inside.

* * *

Nico used the drive to his next destination to call Stanzi Palmer and ask him to find out everything he could about Troy Cutler. Then he arranged for one of his employees to stand guard outside Lindsay's hospital room. Although he didn't really think Cutler would go there to finish the job, he didn't want to take any chances either. He parked the car and got out, then did what he was trained for. He stayed out of sight until his prey came out of the building, phone pressed to his ear. Nico followed the man as he walked down the street. When the guy was done with his phonecall and walked around the corner, Nico caught up with him and grabbed him by the elbow. "Hello, agent Bennett. Let's take a walk," he said in a low voice. Bennett tried to pull his arm away, but Nico didn't let him. He steered the fed into an alley.

"Careles. What do you want?" Bennett grimaced as Nico tightened his hold for a moment, then let go. Rage bubbled up inside him.

"You. Let. Cutler. Walk?" He managed to keep his voice low, but he couldn't keep his fury out of it. Bennett swallowed hard.

"Mr. Cutler was bailed out. He wasn't a flight risk."

"How do you know?"

"Well, not that it's any of your business, but we offered him a very sweet deal in exchange for him taking the stand against MacLane. He'd be an idiot to jeopardize that by running."

"Who bailed him out?"

"Why do you wanna know?"

"Was it a guy named Yuri?" When Nico mentioned the name Abby had given him and Dani earlier, he saw Bennett freeze for a fraction of a second. The fed recovered quickly, but it was all Nico needed. "Who is he, Bennett?"

"None of your business. Where did you get this information?"

"From a woman whose sister was kidnapped a few days ago. By Yuri's friend Cutler."

"What? Cutler didn't kidnap anyone! We…" Bennett sighed. "We would've known."

"So you're following him?"

"Not much to follow. Guy hasn't left his apartment for anything else then grocery shopping for weeks."

"Yeah, well, that's not what I hear, Bennett. As a matter of fact, Cutler seems to have been all over town lately. Doing what he calls _business_. You know, making deliveries, kidnapping one girl, putting another one in hospital…"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Jesus Bennett! You need to go see a doctor."

"Huh?"

"There seems to be something wrong with your ears. Or maybe it's your brain…" The fed narrowed his eyes, his face slowly turning red. Nico held up his hands before the guy could explode on him and sighed. "Look, Bennett. I have information on what Cutler and his friend are up to. You want to hear it, you're gonna have to give me something in return. A name would be a nice start." Bennett seemed to weigh his options.

"You will stay out of this," he stated eventually.

"If I can."

"Promise me. Or I'll have you arrested for obstruction of an ongoing investigation." Nico shrugged and just stared at Bennett. He was counting on the fact that the fed wanted the information. And that Bennett was smart enough to realize that giving Nico what he wanted was the fastest way to get it. Eventually, the guy seemed to reach that conclusion too.

"Yuri Chernikov. That's all you're getting, Careles. Now talk to me."

* * *

Dani spent a lot of time thinking about Abby's revelations. She just couldn't figure out what it was that Troy Cutler was trying to achieve, and it was driving her nuts. Why did he want SBG? Was all of this really just about getting back at the people he blamed for his downfall? Then why hadn't he gone after Paloma or Dani herself? Of course, Paloma did work at the company he was trying to take away from Abby, so maybe he was killing two birds with one stone there. _But he only went after Lindsay when he found out about me meeting Abby…_ she tried to ignore the feeling of guilt that came with that thought. _If I would have just stayed away from Abby and SBG, Lindsay would be fine now…_ _Stop it, Santino!_ All things considered, she couldn't shake the feeling that there were bigger things at play here than just Troy extracting some revenge. Could it have anything to do with V3? And who was this mysterious business partner that Abby had mentioned? Dani sighed and massaged her temples, feeling a headache coming on. She wanted to do something, instead of just sitting around and waiting to hear from Nico. But she knew she couldn't really do anything about Troy Cutler now, so she decided to go visit Lindsay instead.

When she walked out the front door, her phone buzzed. It was Jeanette. "Soooo? Was it… good?" her friend asked.

"Oh, hey Jeanette. Well…" Dani's voice trailed off. Where to start?

"Uh-oh. Don't tell me I have to come down there and kick this mystery man of yours! I have a spa appointment in two hours that I really don't wanna cancel..."

"Uh, no… That won't be necessary. I think. Look, Jeanette, I'm on my way to the hospital, so…" Dani winced as she heard Jeanette gasp.

"Hospital? What hospital? Why? What's wrong, honey?"

"Um, well, it's Lindsay, Jeanette. She… Hold on a minute, will you?" Dani knocked on the window of Xeno's car. "Hi. Um, I know you're here to protect me, not to drive me around town or anything, but… could you drive me to the hospital please?" He nodded and she gave him a grateful smile before walking around the car to the passenger side. She brought the phone to her ear again and cut off Jeanettes stream of worried questions. "Okay. Here's what happened…"

**A/N: I said some revelations, not all of them… ;) As for the identity of Grey Eyes, did you guess right? And if you did, at what point did I give it away? Please keep telling me what you think, I love reading your opinions! **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hello, yes, I'm still here! Hope you are too :) You keep reading, I keep writing… Thanks for sticking with me so far, I saw a few new follows and faves so thanks for that too. And, as always, thanks for the reviews. Now I will move out of the way and let you enjoy this newest addition!**

Chapter eleven

Dani stayed with Lindsay at the hospital for a few hours. Then Xeno drove her straight to the airport, where Ray Jay was due to arrive at seven. Though JFK was crowded as usual, Dani had no trouble picking her son out of the crowd. And despite all her worries a huge smile came on her face when she caught sight of him walking towards her. He looked way more mature then the boy who'd left for Paris on a whim only a little over a year ago, though his tailored suit was slightly rumpled from the long flight. When Ray Jay saw her, he answered her smile with a broad grin of his own and picked up his pace. Dani couldn't just stand there waiting for him any longer, so she ran towards him with a squeal of joy, meeting him halfway. And then she was hugging her son. It felt so good that in that moment, not even Xeno's watchful presence could take away from her happiness. "I have missed you _so much_!" she declared when she finally let go of him and took a closer look at his tired face. He must have not gotten a lot of sleep on the plane.

"It's great to see you too, mom… How's Lindsay?" Ray Jay backed up a little, an awkward smile on his face now.

"Well, the doctor seems to think she'll be ready to go home in a couple of days, so that's good news, right? Ray Jay?" He was staring at something behind her, but when she wanted to look over her shoulder, he stopped her.

"Uh, mom, don't look, but there's a scary dude standing behind you. He's been staring at us the whole time… Mom! I said don't look!"

"Oh, no, that's okay, honey. It's just Xeno. He's our ride." Dani gave her son a reassuring smile before turning around to Xeno. "Hey, Xeno! Say hi to my son Ray Jay!"

"Hi." Xeno lifted his hand in greeting.

"He's like the strong, silent type," Dani said in a stage whisper while Ray Jay waved at Xeno a little hesitantly.

"Okay… So you have a chauffeur now?" _Oh, shoot…_ How to explain to her son that Xeno was more like a bodyguard, without telling him the whole story?

"Um, well, yeah… kind of. Come on, let's go home now. Where's the rest of your luggage?" Ray Jay seemed to want to ask more questions but then thought better of it when he looked at Xeno again. He pointed to the small suitcase standing by his feet.

"That's all I've got… You know I'm only here for a few days, right mom?"

"Yeah, I'm just ignoring that for now, sweetie. You know, 'cause you only just got here." She just had to hug him again then, slightly disappointed when he ended the hug within seconds.

* * *

They had dinner together in the kitchen, and it could have felt like old times if Lindsay had been there. Ray Jay had wanted to go see his sister right away when they'd left the airport, but Dani had managed to talk him out of that, explaining to him that Lindsay was still in a lot of pain and also slept a lot. They had agreed to go visit her first thing in the morning. Now they were sitting in the family room talking about his life in Paris, when Ray Jay interrupted himself with a huge yawn.

"Oh honey, when was the last time you had any sleep?"

"Uh, I don't know, but it feels like two days ago… Sorry, mom…" Another yawn.

"Well, maybe you should just go to bed then. We can talk more tomorrow, okay?" Ray Jay seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then he nodded.

"Yeah, I think I will turn in now… If you haven't turned my room into a fitness room, that is." They both smiled at the running joke between them. Then he stood up and stretched. "Goodnight mom."

"Goodnight, honey." Dani watched him walk from the room and couldn't help sighing a little wistfully. It was wonderful to have him home again, but she sensed that there was still some distance between them, probably left over from the day he'd left. Since then, they had talked things out over the phone but Dani knew it would take more than that to bridge the gap between them completely. If only he could stay home for more than a few days… Still thinking about that, Dani got up and went upstairs to take a bath.

* * *

After her bath, Dani was getting ready for bed when she heard someone knock on her front door. Quickly she slipped on her robe and went downstairs again, hoping it would be Nico. She hadn't heard from him since he'd left that afternoon, and he'd been decidedly distant then. But if he was here now, maybe she had worried about him pushing her away again for nothing. Dani looked through the window and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw that it was indeed Nico. She opened the door. "Hey you," she smiled. Then she saw there was someone with him. "Oh. Um, hello," she said to the big blond man standing beside Nico.

"Doctor Santino, this is Bill. He'll be taking over for Xeno tonight." Although she understood that Nico couldn't really hug and kiss her in front of an employee, Dani did feel a bit disappointed that he sounded all business. He could have at least called her Dani, right?

"Oh… Okay. Nice to meet you, Bill." The bodyguard nodded at her. "Um, would you mind if I talked to your boss in private for a moment?"

"No, ma'am. I'll just go do the rounds." He had a soft, pleasant voice that really didn't fit a man of his size, and a charming Southern accent.

"Okay, thanks, Bill." Dani smiled at him, making sure her expression was warm and friendly. Then she let her face turn neutral again as she looked at Nico. "Mr. Careles, would you please come in for a minute?" She smiled inwardly as he raised his eyebrow at her formal tone.

"Of course… Doctor."

Dani led him into the kitchen without saying anything else, then quickly turned around and surprised him by putting her arms around his neck, pulling him into her and pressing her mouth to his. She felt him freeze for a fraction of a second, but then his arms came up around her and she felt his lips part on a sigh, his tongue sliding out to meet hers. She let out an appreciative moan and he paused for less than a heartbeat before taking control of the kiss, pulling her body against his and tangling one hand in her hair while the other roamed down her back to her butt. Dani lost herself in kissing him, her hands doing a little roaming of their own.  
Suddenly, Nico broke the kiss and held her away from him. "What happened to taking things slow?" he asked hoarsely.

"Slow's overrated," she whispered, trying to close the distance between them again. But he took a step back, dropping his hands and breaking eye contact.

"This is not why I came here," Dani heard him mutter to himself. Then he looked at her again. "I need to talk to you. About Abby and Troy," he clarified.

"Okay… back to business it is then." But now Dani felt it was her turn to clarify, so she held up a hand to prevent him from saying anything yet. "For now, that is."

"Fair enough. I need you to give me Abby's phone number."

"Why?"

"Because I need to call her."

"Yeah, I got that. Again, why?"

"I want to know when exactly the deal between her and Cutler is taking place."

"Wait, what? I thought we were gonna stop that deal. And, you know, save Jenny in the process?"

"I can't just yet."

"Why not?"

"Because Bennett won't let me."

"You mean agent Bennett? The prick with the breathmints?" She frowned when he nodded. "So… you went to the FBI?"

"Yes. Turns out a Yuri Chernikov got Troy Cutler out on bail. And Chernikov is a big fish."

"Okay, but… What does that have to do with anything?"

"Chernikov has been on the FBI radar for years, now they want to move in on him. And they're waiting for Cutler to lead them to his doorstep. I go after Cutler, he can't lead them anywhere."

"But then… What about Jenny? They gonna do anything about that? And how did he even manage to kidnap her with the FBI watching him?" Dani frowned. Troy also wouldn't have been able to hit Lindsay with his car if the FBI was following him around, right?

"He must have hired someone to do it for him. Bennett promised he'd put a team on trying to find Jenny, but they don't want to ruin their operation, so they're keeping it low profile for now."

"What does that even mean?"

"They're gonna put every cop in the state on the lookout for girls matching her description. But that's pretty much it." Nico sounded as frustrated as Dani felt.

"So now what?"

"So now I need to talk to Abby. Bennett asked me to find out when the deal between SBG and Chernikov is taking place, since he can hardly contact Abby himself. After that, I'm going to hunt down whoever Cutler hired to do the… dirty work for him." He made it sound easy, like he hunted people down on a daily basis or something.

"The one who hurt Lindsay." Dani felt anger bubbling up inside again. "God, I _really_ want to get my hands on him…"

"So do I… And I will find him, Dani. You have my word."

"I know. I'll get you Abby's number." Dani walked into the family room, where she'd left her phone, and texted Abby's number to him while walking back to the kitchen. "There. We done talking business now?"

"I think so…"

"Good…"

"But I can't stay."

"Nico…"

"I know. We need to talk. But… I can't, okay?" Nico released a heavy sigh. "I need you to be patient with me, Dani. Can you do that?"

"I guess. But…" Dani let her voice trail off for a moment, trying to get her thoughts straight. "Don't you think you'll feel better when we get it out of the way? I know I will…" Nico shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this right now. Goodnight, Dani." He walked out of the kitchen, Dani following him. As he opened the front door, she stopped him.

"Nico, wait… Please." He paused and looked at her, and she walked up to him. "Tell me what you need," she whispered, deliberately using the same words he'd used the night before, trying to tell him that she wanted to be there for him now like he'd been there for her then. She saw in his expression that he understood and for a few seconds he even looked like he wanted to give in. But then his eyes turned wary again and she knew he'd leave.

"I just told you – patience." His voice sounded weary. He looked at her pleadingly, and Dani said the only thing she could say, keeping her own voice warm and compassionate.

"Okay. But remember, I'm here for you." Then she went up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek before he could stop her. "Goodnight, Nico."

* * *

To leave Dani standing there was one of the hardest things Nico had ever done. But he knew he had to. He was tired after his short night and his long day, and he couldn't trust himself around her in this state of mind. Because he wanted to tell her. Everything. And he feared that if he did, she'd turn away from him like everybody else he ever told had done. Like his own family had done. Of course, there was a slight chance that she wouldn't turn away from him. If fear of losing her had been the only reason he didn't dare tell her, he might have risked it anyway.  
But that wasn't the only reason. Because it would hurt _her_ too if she ever found out the truth about him. Dani had been hurt by men before. She didn't trust easily, as Nico knew from personal experience. He simply refused to be the one who destroyed her ability to trust altogether. And telling her that he wasn't the man she thought he was, well, that would probably do it.  
He'd been stupid to believe that all they had to do was get past the whole Alex situation. Or that he could get away with hiding part of himself from her forever. He'd known almost from the beginning that Doctor Dani Santino was capable of seeing right through his bullshit mystery man act, and that she was too stubborn to stop asking him to open up to her. So he'd walk away from her after he'd made sure that Cutler no longer posed a threat to her. And this time, he would stay away, no matter what. He'd survived without her before, he could do it again. And she would eventually get over him, too.  
Nico sighed. Now all he had to do was figure out a way to make her see that she was better off without him.

* * *

Dani watched Nico's car drive off and then quietly closed the door. Turning around, she gasped when she saw Ray Jay standing on the stairs giving her a wide-eyed look. _How long had he been standing there?_ "Ray Jay… I thought you were sleeping."

"I was. I woke up because I heard voices." He came down the stairs, his face pale.

"I… I'm sorry we woke you."

"Mom. Why didn't you tell me Lindsay's accident wasn't an accident?" _Uh-oh, that long, huh?_

**A/N: Too short? Probably. But it was a bit of struggle to get this one out, so please be nice…**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry to keep you waiting for so long – life sometimes has a tendency to get in the way of writing. But now the moment has finally arrived, chapter 12 is here… Thanks for your patience and kindness, and please let me know what you think of this chapter!**

Chapter twelve

Dani watched her son pouring the last of the coffee from the pot she'd made them an hour before while trying to process everything she'd just told him. She wished she could have found some way to keep him out of it, but she figured he was too much like her. He'd refused to go back to bed and kept on asking questions, digging deeper, demanding she stop treating him like a child. And she had eventually relented, telling him about SBG and Troy Cutler, although she hadn't mentioned him or his business partner by name. Ray Jay had listened quietly, not interrupting her even once.

"Okay, guess I understand the bodyguard now…" Ray Jay's voice was pensive.

"There's one at the hospital too, so don't worry, 'cause Lindsay's safe there."

"Good. But, mom?"

"Yes?"

"Where does Nico Careles come in?" Dani frowned. How did Ray Jay know Nico's name? They'd only met once, as far as she could recall, when Nico had caught Ray Jay and Lindsay selling merchandise outside the Hawks stadium… Then she realized that Juliette Pittman must have told him about Nico. Still, her son's next words were a shock. "He came to see Juliette once."

"Really? When?" _And why didn't he tell me?_

"Just a few days after we got there. Scared the shit out of us, actually. We got into her limo and all of a sudden there he was." Dani couldn't help smiling at that.

"Yeah, he does that sometimes…" Then the timeline hit her. _A few days after we got there_, that must have been around the same time Nico had left the Hawks. But hadn't he told her that the FBI approached him right after he'd walked out of the stadium that night? Would they really have let him fly off to Paris, just like that?

"Mom?" Ray Jay's voice cut off her thoughts.

"Huh? Sorry, honey, I was just… Anyway, what were you saying?"

"I was asking you what Careles had to do with any of this." There was a more than a hint of dislike in her son's voice, and Dani frowned when she heard it.

"Well, for one, Nico is Xeno's boss. And second, he and I are…" _Are what, exactly?_ "We're, um, dating, I suppose."

"You're dating. Him." Ray Jay looked at her with a frown.

"Well, we only went out on one date so far, but yes. Why?"

"It's just that… I mean, Juliette told me… You know he's a cheater like dad, right? Juliette's mom and he were… You know." _Oh. Right. That._

"Yes, I know about Nico and Juliette's mom, Ray Jay… But that's over now. Has been for some time, actually." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"Are you sure? Because Juliette's mom was in Paris too, you know. When he was there." Dani felt her smile disappear when he said that.

"I see… But – well, that was what, a year ago? So I don't understand what that's got to do with me dating him now." But it still stung, although Dani did her best to hide that fact from Ray Jay.

"I just don't want him to hurt you, okay? That's all." Her son shrugged, but he wouldn't look her in the eye. She decided not to push him on the subject now, because they both really needed to get some sleep.

"Well, don't worry about me. I know how to handle myself. I _am_ a grown woman, you know." Dani sighed, trying to lift the tightness she suddenly felt in her chest. She really could have done without the mental image of Nico and Gabrielle sightseeing in Paris.

* * *

Troy Cutler got into the car Chernikov had so generously provided him with when they had first started working together and drove past the feds that were still sitting outside his apartment building. They never even saw him. It would have amused him, if it hadn't been for his anger towards dear Abby. Once again she had tried to go behind his back. This time she hadn't succeeded, because of the listening device that had caught every word of the conversation Bruce had had with Careles and Santino this morning. But he would deal with Bruce's transgression later. Santino was more important now. She and her pesky boyfriend had tried to talk Bruce into going to the feds. Unsuccessfully, he had to give Bruce that. And if the agents sitting outside his building were anything to go by, they hadn't gone to the FBI themselves. Yet. He suspected that wouldn't take long. So he had to act on Santino now. Once he had her, Careles would probably back down. Troy despised having to do the dirty work himself, but the man he usually hired for jobs like this one had been unavailable tonight. And he didn't want to ask Chernikov to have one of his men handle it. He owed him enough as it was. Besides, he didn't want the man to think he was incompetent.  
He drove past the Santino house and saw a dark car in her driveway, with some gorilla behind the wheel. Good. Getting past the guard wouldn't be easy, but he knew that he was smart enough to figure out a way to do it. And at least this meant that Careles wasn't there himself tonight, which was a definite plus. Troy drove around the block and parked just around the corner from the Santino house. Then he reached into the glove compartment to retrieve the gun that had come with the car. He'd really hate to have to shoot the gorilla, but desperate times and all that…  
As Troy carefully approached the Santino house, he was surprised to see the gorilla now standing by the porch talking to some kid. So she had a son too, huh? He watched from behind a tree as the kid suddenly took out his phone. Had they spotted him? The gorilla walked away, disappearing around a corner of the house. He didn't look alarmed, so Troy figured he was safe for now. But it was now or never, he thought, noticing that the front door of the house was ajar.

* * *

Dani felt like she'd only just fallen asleep when she woke up again. The room was dark and a glance at the alarm clock told her it was 3.03, so why was she awake? As she sat up, she thought she heard voices outside. Had Nico come back? Maybe he had news about Troy Cutler or the man that had hurt Lindsay? As she got out of bed and picked up her robe from the floor, she expected to hear a knock on her front door, but it didn't come. The voices outside had fallen silent too. Dani frowned, a feeling of unease settling in her stomach. She quietly opened the door and stepped out of the bedroom. Then she noticed that there was a light on downstairs and that Ray Jay's bedroom door was open. That explained it. Ray Jay, high on cafeïne, probably couldn't sleep and had gotten up. The voices she'd heard must have been his and Bill's. Still it wouldn't hurt to go check if everything was okay, she decided as she started down the stairs.  
The front door was ajar, and she could now clearly hear Ray Jay's voice coming from the front porch. It sounded like he was talking on the phone. To Juliette Pittman, probably. It may be in the middle of the night here, in Paris it was Tuesday morning already. Dani stood at the bottom of the stairs, trying to decide if she should step outside or go into the kitchen and wait for Ray Jay to finish the call, when she suddenly heard Bill shout.

"Kid! Look out!" There was a shuffle and she heard Ray Jay curse… and then a shot rang out. Dani broke into a run. She reached the front door just when it was pushed open from the other side.

Ray Jay stumbled in. Dani's initial relief that her son was still alive and in one piece was quickly replaced with fear as she registered that he wasn't alone. Standing in the doorway behind him was Troy Cutler, holding a gun to Ray Jay's head.  
They all stood frozen just inside the house for a moment, staring at each other. Dani felt fear war with anger inside of her. This was the man who'd hurt Lindsay. She would die before she'd let him hurt Ray Jay too… But what could she do? As she looked around the hallway searching for anything she could use as a weapon, Dani couldn't help wondering what had happened to Bill. Troy must have shot him, she realized that. Was he badly hurt? Dead?

"Step back, doctor. I don't want to shoot your son, but I will if you don't do exactly as I say." Troy said in a low voice, and Dani stepped back. Troy and Ray Jay came further into the house. The gun never once left Ray Jay's head.

"Ray Jay? Are you alright, honey?" Dani saw Ray Jay swallow and give her a nod. He was trying hard to keep his cool, but his eyes told a different story. Dani locked eyes with Troy again. "Let him go, Troy. Please. Ray Jay has nothing to do with this." She tried to keep her voice calm and reasonable.

"You should have thought of that before you went to see Bruce this morning." Dani opened her mouth to try and reason with him again, but he cut her off. "Anyway, we don't have time to chat, doctor. We've got to get going."

"Oh, no. You are not taking my son anywhere. Let. Him. Go." Dani moved towards them again and Troy suddenly pointed the gun at her, his finger on the trigger. Dani wanted to ignore his command anyway, but then Ray Jay started struggling and Troy put the gun back against his head. Dani froze, not wanting to do anything to put her son's life in anymore danger.

"Now why on earth would I take your son? I was talking about you and me, actually." Troy's tone was casual, almost conversational even, and that made his next move even more shocking. He drew the fist with the gun back and punched Ray Jay on the side of his head. Hard.  
When she saw her son collapse to the floor, apparently unconscious, Dani reacted on pure instinct, running to his side. "Ray Jay!" _Please let him be alright_, she prayed. As she kneeled beside him and saw the blood trickling into his hair, rage tore through her. But before she could do anything else she felt Troy's arm come around her throat from behind. The gun now pressed into her own temple. She struggled to free herself, clawing at his arm and thrashing around, but he was surprisingly strong. Troy yanked her upright and she felt the gun pressing harder into her skin.

"Relax… doctor. Don't make me… hurt you." He seemed to be having some trouble holding on to her, so Dani put more effort into her struggle. She brought her leg up and started kicking backwards. But she was wearing slippers, not heels, so her kicking had little effect. Troy's arm around her throat tightened, and Dani had to let up a little to be able to get enough air in her lungs. "You want your son to wake up beside your dead body? Because I _will_ pull the trigger if I have to." Troy growled in her ear. He ground the gun against her head for emphasis. Then the pressure of the barrel suddenly lifted as he stretched his arm out, the gun once again pointing at Ray Jay. "Or maybe I should kill him instead?"

"No!" Dani ceased her struggling altogether.

"Good girl. Now come with me." He started dragging her towards the front door and she let him, deciding she could resume her efforts to free herself once they were outside and he couldn't shoot her son so easily anymore. "Open the door." Dani followed Troy's order and then gasped when Bill's body came into view. The guard was lying on his back on her front porch, a gun next to his outstretched hand, his chest covered in blood. She was so shocked at the sight of him, that she didn't even realize that Troy drew back his fist again. Then he delivered a massive blow to the side of her head and everything went dark.

* * *

Nico had fallen asleep on the couch, Onyx stretched out beside him. When his cellphone started buzzing on the coffee table, he was immediately awake and alert. He grabbed the phone, took one look at the caller ID and felt his heart start thudding. He got up off the couch as he brought the phone to his ear, startling Onyx in the process. "Bill. What's wrong?" Nico had to work to keep his voice under control. Fear trickled through him when Bill didn't immediately answer him. _Please let her be alright… I Should have stayed with her…_ "Bill? Dammit, talk to me!"

"Bastard… took her. Sorry… man." Bill sounded like he was in pain. Nico registered that fact, but his fear for Dani trumped his concern for Bill.

"What. Happened?" he growled. He headed for the door, anger and dread clenching his stomach as he heard Bill let out another grunt of pain. Why the hell hadn't he stayed with her tonight? He could have crashed on her sofa…

"Fucker… came out of nowhere… Had a gun. Shot me. Took her." There was a pause. Then, "Cops are coming." Nico could hear the sirens in the background.

"Don't tell them anything yet. I'm on my way." The phone still clutched in his hand, he ran out the door.

* * *

An ambulance came speeding by in the opposite direction when Nico turned into Dani's street, but he barely even noticed it. He couldn't park his car in Dani's driveway, because it was filled with cops and nosy neighbours. He left the car in the street with the engine running, not caring whether it would still be there when he got back, and started pushing his way through the crowd. Halfway down the driveway, a uniformed officer tried to stop him. "Sorry sir, you'll have to stay back. This is a crimescene…"

"This is my girlfriend's house," Nico bit out as he pushed the cop out of his way. He ducked under the yellow tape and made his way across the yard to the front porch, the cop chasing after him. But Nico was faster. He'd just reached the porch when the front door opened and a detective came out.

"Hey! What the hell…" The man did a double take as Nico came to a stop before him. "Wait… Careles, right? What the fuck are you doing here?"

As Nico searched his memory for the name of the guy, that indeed looked familiar, the uniform that had been chasing him grabbed his shoulder. "Sorry, detective Decker. He just slipped by me." _Decker!_ Nico didn't remember the detective's first name, but their professional paths had crossed a couple of times when Nico had worked for The Hawks.  
He shook the uniform off. "Decker. You in charge here? I have information on this case." The uniform grabbed his shoulder again, but before Nico could do or say anything, detective Decker held up his hand.

"It's okay, officer." The cop reluctantly stepped back a little, letting go of Nico's shoulder. "So? What are you doing here, exactly?" Decker asked Nico.

"He's dating my mom." Ray Jay's voice sounded from behind Decker suddenly. Nico winced in sympathy when he saw the kid come forward. The ice pack he was holding to the side of his face couldn't completely hide the bruises there, and there appeared to be some blood too.

"Ray Jay. You okay?"

"Do I _look_ okay? Oh, and hey, great security service, man," Ray Jay sneered. "That asshole walked right past your so-called bodyguard."

"That was your guy?" Decker asked.

"Yes." Nico barely glanced at the detective before focussing on Dani's son again. "Ray Jay, I'm so sorry…"

"Yeah, well, that doesn't buy me anything, does it? My mom's still gone!" Ray Jay turned and stormed back into the house. Nico sighed. He couldn't blame the kid for being pissed. Although he knew Cutler or whoever he'd hired hadn't really walked right past Bill, he also knew this never would have happened if he'd been here himself.

"So you wanna tell me what's going on here?" Decker interrupted his thoughts.

"No. I want to go hunting. But I'm guessing that's not gonna happen." _Yet_, Nico added in silence. Because the minute he'd gotten Decker and Ray Jay to tell him exactly what had happened to his woman, he was going after Cutler. Bennett and that Chernikov be damned.

"Good guess. Come on inside." Decker walked back inside and Nico followed him, trying not to look at the blood on the porch and the signs of struggle in the hallway – and failing miserably.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: As always, thanks for the reviews. This next chapter is a bit on the short side, but I hope you'll like it anyway. Please don't hesitate to tell me what you think of it!**

Chapter thirteen

"Mr. Chernikov is not happy." The voice on the other end of the line sent a chill down Troy's spine. He had been driving back to the city, looking forward to getting some well-deserved sleep before his final meeting with Chernikov, when the call from Chernikov's lapdog had come in. Now his car was pulled over by the side of the road, the city lights already in view.

"And why is that?" He couldn't quite conceal the impatience in his voice.

"We have reason to believe that you have attracted… Unwanted attention. Again."

_What the fuck?_ Then it dawned on him and he sighed. "You mean those feds sitting outside my building. Nothing to worry about. Trust me. They've been there all week and they don't suspect a thing. Everything is under control." His voice sounded as confident as he felt. However, the caller's next words made that confidence dissipate quickly.

"Really? Then why does the NYPD have an APB out for you?"

Troy almost dropped the phone, despite his now white-knuckled grip on the device. "What the hell are you talking about? What APB?" But he already knew, of course. He probably shouldn't have shot the damn gorilla. One of the neighbours must have heard the shot and called the cops. But how had they caught on to his identity so quickly? Unless of course the bodyguard had somehow survived. Or… could Careles have told them? Would the guy really be that dumb, with his girlfriend's life at stake?

"Oh, come on. Do you think we are stupid? You were very busy the past few hours. Shooting a man, kidnapping a woman! What were you thinking?" The man on the other end said in a low voice.

Troy pushed the thoughts on Careles away, focusing on the conversation again. "I… I can explain…" He hated the sudden uncertainty in his tone.

"Don't bother. Mr. Chernikov has asked me to inform you that he will not do business with a wanted man."

Troy felt his stomach drop at the note of finality in the man's voice. "What? No! He can't pull back now!"

The man on the other end snorted. "He can. In fact, he already has. You have had your second chance, Mr. Cutler. This time, the decision is final. The deal is off. Do not contact us again."

"But…"

"Goodbye, Mr. Cutler."

"No! Wait! Please, I…" But it was no use. The connection was broken. Troy slowly lowered the hand with the phone in it and just stared at the device in disbelief. This couldn't be happening, not now. Not when he'd been so close. He stared at the city lights ahead of him without really seeing them for almost thirty minutes, trying to come to terms with the notion that all the hard work he'd done at V3 and after that had been for nothing.

* * *

Dawn was breaking, coloring the sky a muddy orange. The world was glistening with dew and one by one, birds started waking up. Nico, pacing on the front porch in a vain attempt to get rid of some excess energy, didn't notice any of that. He felt ready to go to war – but the enemy was nowhere in sight and it was starting to drive him crazy. Bennett had arrived an hour ago and had ordered the agents staking out Cutler's building to go look inside. They had reported back that the asshole's car was still in the garage but that the man himself had seemed to vanish into thin air. Decker had subsequently put out an APB and was now talking to Bennett in the front yard. Nico couldn't make out what they were saying, but their voices didn't sound like they agreed on the best course of action yet. He was just about to go over and ask them what the fucking problem was, when his phone started buzzing in his pocket. It was Stanzi Palmer. "What have you got?" he answered the hacker. He'd called Palmer just before Bennett had arrived, telling him to check if Cutler owned any other real estate than his apartment downtown.

"Jackpot. Cutler recently rented a cabin using his mother's maiden name. Up in the Catskills."

"Text me the coordinates." Nico hung up on Palmer and hesitated for a moment, looking at the two cops. Then he turned and walked inside to get his car keys from the kitchen bar, where he'd left them after moving his car from the middle of the street to the driveway a few hours before.  
Walking into the kitchen, he found Ray Jay sitting at the bar talking on his phone. Nico grabbed his keys and saw the kid give him a questioning look. "Hold on, Jules," Ray Jay said, then to Nico, "Where are you going?"

"I think I know where your mother is."

"Gotta go, Jules, I'll call you later." Ray Jay pocketed his phone and slid off his barstool, giving Nico a defiant look. "I'm going with you."

"No you're not."

"Ha. Watch me." Ray Jay started for the front door, but Nico blocked his way. The kid gave him a squint and Nico briefly wondered if he realized how much he looked – and sounded – like his mother. "Come on, man. We're just wasting time here," Ray Jay said.

On that they could agree. The Catskills were a three hour drive away and Nico wasn't planning on wasting any time on arguing with Ray Jay. "You're right. But you're still not coming." Of course the kid still followed him when he walked to the front door. Stepping out on the front porch, Nico turned and glared at him. "Look, kid…"

Ray Jay cut him off, getting right into Nico's face. "I am not a kid. And I am not afraid of you either. I'm coming, whether you like it or not."

"The hell you are…" Nico gave the kid his most intimidating scowl, but Ray Jay didn't back down. Under different circumstances, Nico might have been impressed. Now he was just annoyed.

"And where, exactly, do you think you're going?" They had both been so caught up in their staring contest that neither of them had noticed Bennett coming up to them.

"He thinks he knows where my mom is." Ray Jay was quick to tell the agent, and Nico sighed heavily. So much for going after Cutler and Dani himself.

"Really?" Bennett asked him.

"Yes."

"How did you find out?"

"Trust me, Bennett. You don't wanna know. Now let's go." Nico turned for his car, not waiting for a response. Of course, he got one anyway.

"Hold it right there, Careles. We're gonna do this the right way." _Dammit!_

* * *

Dani only opened her eyes because she wanted to be able to squint at whoever it was that kept telling her to wake up. She had a hell of a headache, and she needed more sleep. She opened her mouth to tell the person trying to rouse her to shut up already, but the words never made it out as she became aware of her surroundings. _What the hell?_ Wooden boards covered the walls and the ceiling of the room she was in. Burgundy curtains partially obscured a small window through which grey daylight filtered in and in the opposite corner from where Dani was lying on what definitely wasn't her own comfortable bed, were a small table and two wooden chairs. A brunette with a slightly familiar looking face was sitting on one of the chairs, staring at her.

"You have to untie me." The girl's voice was hoarse, as if she'd overused it.

"Huh?" Dani tried to ignore the headache as she attempted to make sense of what the girl had just told her. She started to raise a hand to her pounding head, but realized that her hands were somehow stuck under her.

"He didn't tie you to the bed, did he?" the girl asked.

Dani frowned. That was a weird question. Why would anyone want to tie her to a bed? She wasn't into bondage… Then memories suddenly came flooding back to her. "Oh my God," she breathed as she remembered her son being knocked to the ground by Troy. She started struggling frantically, rolling to her stomach and straining to get her wrists and ankles free. It was no use and her head hurt too much to keep her struggling up for long, so she gave up.

"Lady? You alright?" The girl, who Dani realized had to be Jenny Bruce, sounded scared now.

"Yes. I'm fine, Jenny." Dani replied, rolling to her side to look at Jenny. She now also noticed that the girl's hands and feet were tied to the cair she sat on.

Jenny looked at her in apparent surprise. "How do you know my name?"

"Abby told me. She's been looking for you, you know." Dani drew up her legs and stretched them over the side of the bed, then tried rolling herself into an upright position. Jenny was right, she had to get over there to untie the girl. Dani drew a deep breath in an attempt to keep the dizziness at bay that washed over her when she finally sat up on the side of the bed. When it had subsided, she looked at Jenny again and tried for a reassuring smile. "I'm Dani Santino. Your sister and I… we work together. Now, let's see…" Dani looked down at her bound ankles, then back up to Jenny. The room wasn't big, but there was a thick burgundy rug lying on the floor between her and the girl. If she tried to hop over there the thing might trip her up… But first things first, could she even stand up? Dani tensed the muscles in her legs and feet while bringing her upper body forward a little. For a brief moment she stood, and a sense of victory came over her. Then she lost her balance. Acting on pure instinct she managed to twist her body so that she came down on the rug on her side instead of flat on her face, her shoulder and hip taking the brunt of the fall. "Dammit," she groaned.

"Are you alright?" Jenny asked in a small voice.

Dani took stock of the various places in her body that hurt now. She didn't think anything was broken. "I'll live," she muttered. With a sigh, she drew up her legs and pushed at the bed with her feet, making her body slide forward over the rug. It was less hard than she'd feared, because of the satin robe she was still wearing. It made for less friction than, say, jeans and a sweater would have. Still, Dani figured it would take her a while to reach Jenny's side of the room. Especially because she couldn't push herself off against the bed anymore. She painstakingly started to wiggle her way towards the other end of the rug, rolling her eyes a little at Jenny's whispered "Hurry!"

Dani didn't know how much time passed while she made the journey across the room, but it felt like half a lifetime. Eventually however, she reached the chair Jenny was tied to and she allowed herself to relax and catch her breath for a moment. Then she curled up her body and managed to roll herself onto her knees beside the chair.  
Jenny's hands were taped to the back of the chair separately with the same tape Troy had used on Dani's own hands and feet. Now if she only had something sharp to cut through the tape with. A box cutter would be great… Looking around the room she found nothing she could use. Dani sighed. Okay, so her teeth it would have to be.

* * *

Troy turned his car around the first chance he got. No way was he going back to the city now, not with the cops looking for him. His initial shock had worn off a little, and he was now merely pissed. Chernikov had abandoned him in the middle of a mess Troy would never be able to talk himself out of. So that left him with only one option, really – try to clean up as much of the mess as he possibly could. Starting with that meddling bitch Santino. In the end it was all her fault, right? She just should have stayed away from SBG like he'd told her to…


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter fourteen

When she looked up at the window, Dani was surprised that night hadn't fallen yet. Her jaws and knees ached from the long time she'd spent balancing on her knees and chewing through the tape on Jenny's hands, which hadn't been quite as easy as she'd hoped. At long last, she had managed it though. Jenny had then returned the favor, though of course she got to use her fingernails for the task instead of her teeth. Now they were both working on getting their ankles free too. Hours must have passed since she'd first woken up on the single bed on the other side of the room, but still the house was completely quiet. Outside birds were chirping, but Dani couldn't hear any city or traffic noises. She hoped that meant that it would take Troy or whatever accomplice of his a long time to get back here, giving them plenty of time to escape…  
Finally, Dani could pull her ankles free from the tape. A triumphant smile came on her face. Ignoring the various hurts and aches in her body, she immediatley got up and walked across the room to try the door. Locked. Well, she hadn't really expected Troy to be that stupid, but it would have been nice if he'd forgotten to turn the key, right? She rattled the door a few times, just for good measure, then walked over to the window.  
Jenny sat back up with a groan, finally free from the chair. "Wow, glad I don't have to do that every day," the girl stated, massaging her lower back. Then she stood up and stretched. "God, feels good to be free."

"Well, we're not there yet," Dani replied while she opened one of the curtains. Outside, she saw trees. A lot of them. Behind the trees, she thought she could make out the shimmer of water. Maybe a stream or a lake. No signs of any people being nearby though. Good, that meant they could try to escape without worrying about producing too much noise. But a little troublesome too, because it also meant that they probably wouldn't get any help while doing so. Dani tried to open the window, but it was painted shut. Of course. "Jenny, could you bring that chair over here?"

"Wait, you're gonna break the window? You really think that's a good idea? I mean, it makes a lot of noise, so…" Jenny shrugged as her voice trailed off.

"Don't worry, I don't think there's anybody here."

Jenny gave her a hesistant look. "Yeah, but maybe…" Again, she shrugged.

"Maybe what, honey?" Dani asked.

"Well, maybe they'll come back. They've been gone for a long time already." _They_?

"There was more than one person here earlier?"

"Two. The guy that brought you in and another one, who has been bringing me food. The guy that brought you I've only seen the one time, the other one was here all the time. But today they both left before dawn."

Could the other man be the one that hurt Lindsay? Or were there even more players involved in this than Dani and Nico had suspected? Nico… For a moment Dani allowed herself to stare at her mental image of him, pulling strength out of it. Then she squared her shoulders and focused on the here and now again. She knew that he was doing everything he could to find her, but she couldn't waste time sitting around here and waiting for him to come rescue her. "Well, all the more reason to get out of here as soon as we can," she replied to Jenny. "I really don't wanna be here when either of them comes back."  
Jenny seemed to consider that, then nodded and brought the chair over to where Dani stood. Dani took it from her and was just about to lift it and smash it into the window, when she suddenly heard a car engine approach. Troy or the other guy? Or just someone driving by? For long moments, Dani and Jenny stood frozen by the window, holding their breaths as they waited. The car came closer, then pulled to a stop right outside the house. The engine noise was cut off and a few seconds after that, a car door slammed shut. As Dani lowered the chair, she saw Jenny's eyes widen in fear as downstairs a key was inserted into the front door of the cabin and someone came in.

* * *

Troy had used the drive back to the cabin to get a grip on his anger and think things through. He now realized that it would be… unwise to get rid of Santino and little miss Bruce right away. They might still come in handy. If he'd guessed correctly, Careles and the feds would already be out looking for him, and he harboured no illusions that they wouldn't find this place sooner or later. Probably sooner. He had thought before that he wouldn't be able to talk his way out of this mess, but maybe he could trade his way out of it? The more Troy had thought about it, the more it had made sense to him. He already had plans in place to flee the country, he would just take the women with him to ensure that no one would stop him from getting to his destination. He'd briefly entertained the idea of trying to get dear Abby and the Santino kids to pony up a nice ransom, but time was probably already running out. Shame, it would have been nice to have a little pocket money with him while traveling to the other side of the globe. Oh well, he thought as he walked into the cabin, there were always other ways of making money when one had two more or less attractive women at ones disposal, right?

* * *

Bennett's "right way" of handling things apparently involved a helicopter – and a SWAT team coming in from Albany. Nico had to admit that flying for thirty minutes sounded a hell of a lot better than driving for three hours. Of course it had taken nearly an hour for Bennett to coordinate and get clearance on the operation, but even with that time added Nico knew he would get to Dani a lot sooner this way than if he'd stuck to his original plan. So he'd waited as patiently as he could.  
But now his patience had worn extremely thin. As Nico was about to board the chopper, Bennett put a hand on his shoulder to hold him back. "What?" Nico growled.

"Just so we're clear – when we get there, you will stay with the chopper until we give you the all-clear. Understood?" Bennett replied with a scowl.

_The hell I will!_ "Listen, Bennett, I was trained to…" Nico started, trying to sound as patient as he could.

"No, you listen. I don't give a rat's ass what you were trained for. You are a civilian, not an agent. You need to stay back and let us handle this. It's either that or you stay here."

Bennett's scowl didn't waver for a moment. Nico realized that arguing would be no use and would only take up precious time, so he just shook off Bennett's hand and climbed into the chopper without saying anything. The agent climbed in after him, giving him a look that Nico chose to ignore. Let the man think he'd won the discussion for now.

* * *

Dani stood beside the door to what she figured must be the upstairs hallway, her back against the wall and the chair in her hands lifted above her head, ready to smash it into Troy Cutler's skull the moment he came in – or into the skull of whoever else came through the door. She only hoped there weren't two of them. Jenny stood a few feet further down the wall, looking as anxious as Dani felt. Straining her ears, she heard him walking around downstairs, but it didn't sound like he was coming up the stairs yet… "Come on," Dani muttered under her breath. The chair hadn't seemed that heavy at first, but the longer she was holding it up in the air, the heavier it seemed to become. Also, the chair was awkward to hold. Plus her hands were getting sweaty… And where was a baseball bat when you needed one? Dani sighed, trying to ignore all those negative thoughts and to visualize herself hitting Troy or his accomplice firmly in the head with the damn chair. Then, finally, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs and down the hallway. She tightened her grip on the chair and tried to breathe quietly and evenly… And then a freaking helicopter had to pick that exact moment to fly low over the cabin, drowning out whatever sounds there were. The door opened, Troy Cutler walked in, a gun in his hand, and Dani swung the chair in his direction. He must have seen her moving from the corner of his eye, because as the chair came down he twisted away and brought up his arm. Instead of hitting him in the head, the chair caught him in the shoulder. The effect was much the same though – Troy went down.

For a fraction of a second, Dani couldn't believe it had actually worked. She just stood there, trying to process. Then Jenny ran by and out the open bedroom door. Dani dropped the chair and started to follow her, but Troy grabbed her by the ankle. She grabbed on to the door post to keep from falling. "Go!" she shouted at Jenny, who was now standing by the stairs and looking back wide-eyed with fear as Dani tried to struggle free from Troy's grip.

"Oh no… you don't…" he grunted.

Dani kicked backwards at him with her other foot, but didn't hit anything. "Let go, dammit!" She stomped down on the wrist holding her ankle and Troy let go with a groan. Dani propelled herself forward into the hallway and ran towards the stairs. And Troy's gun went off with a deafening bang.

* * *

The helicopter had landed in a meadow about seven hundred feet away from the coordinates Nico had gotten from Stanzi Palmer. The SWAT team didn't appear to have arrived yet. As Nico and Bennett got out of the chopper, the agent immediately got on the phone to find out what the holdup was. Nico saw his opportunity and took off in the direction of the trees behind which the cabin was located. He heard Bennett calling after him, but he tuned the agent out the way he would have done with a fly buzzing around his head. He was rapidly falling back into the all too familiar experience of approaching hostile territory, registering everything around him with sharp clarity but focusing only on those things that mattered to his mission.  
Nico moved through the woods quietly, like Onyx sneaking up on a mouse. Quickly crossing a narrow stream, he heard what sounded like a gunshot echoing from the direction of the cabin. He immediately had a vision of Dani lying in a pool of her own blood, but he resolutely pushed it to the back of his mind. He knew he couldn't let his fear for Dani's life or even his anger at Troy Cutler rule his actions now. When the log cabin came into view, Nico crouched behind some bushes facing the front porch and did a quick scan of the area. The only thing of interest outside the cabin was a black car that was parked out front. He could hear the ticking that signaled the car was still cooling down. Other than that, he heard nothing – even the birds had gone quiet, probably because of the gunshot he'd heard earlier. He couldn't see inside the house, as the front door and all the curtains were closed.

Nico was just about to start approaching the cabin when the front door opened and a young brunette came running out. Her face was pale, her eyes were wide, but she didn't seem injured. She ran straight towards the bushes he was hiding behind. He intercepted her, putting a hand over her mouth when she opened it to start screaming. She looked up at him with wide blue eyes brimming with tears. "Shhh, Jenny, you're safe now. Jenny – that is your name, right? Jenny Bruce?" He watched her take in his words. She closed her eyes for a moment and relaxed slightly. Carefully Nico lifted his hand, ready to put it back over her mouth in case she wanted to start screaming after all. He opened his mouth to ask her how many people where in the cabin, but then he heard noises coming from behind.  
Nico put a finger on his lips and turned around, keeping his body between Jenny and the person approaching. Then he sighed as he saw agent Bennett emerge from the woods. The fed caught sight of them and came jogging over, his eyes going wide when he noticed Jenny. Nico turned his attention back to Jenny when he felt her tense up again, wanting to reassure her that she had nothing to worry about, that it was only an FBI agent. But then he realized that she wasn't even looking at Bennett and he followed her stare in the direction of the cabin.

Something roared inside his head at the sight of Dani carefully stepping out of the front door, the side of her pale face covered in bruises that were almost the same color as the robe she wore. She had her hand clasped over a spot on her left upper arm, near the shoulder. But her hand wasn't nearly big enough to cover the crimson that stained the blue satin. Troy Cutler's arm was around her throath, his gun pressed to her temple.

* * *

Troy made sure he kept Santino flush against him as he looked around for the Bruce girl. She was nowhere in sight, which meant he only had one hostage left. Well, one ought to be enough, right? "We're gonna get into the car now. And I'm warning you…" he said to Santino. As he talked, he kept looking around for anything out of the ordinary. That helicopter that had flown over the cabin could of course have been Ranger Service, but it had made him too nervous to take any chances. There, what was that? Had he seen something moving from the corner of his eye?  
Troy quickly turned his head in that direction and cursed. It was that damn fed, peeking at him from behind a tree, and holding a gun. The gun was pointing towards the sky, no doubt because the fed was afraid he'd hit Santino if he took a shot. Troy, however, didn't have to worry about things like that – and so he just pointed his own gun in the direction of the tree and pulled the trigger.

**A/N: Sorry, once again I couldn't resist a cliff hanger... Thanks for reading and reviewing, I will try to update again asap!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter fifteen

"No!" Dani shrieked when Troy fired his gun. For a moment, she almost forgot about the pain in her upper arm, caused by the bullet that had grazed her while she'd been running for the stairs. She tried to get a better look at the person that had been standing behind the tree and was now lying on the ground. She feared it was Jenny, but it appeared to be a man – and that's all she had time to register. Troy put the gun to her head again and started dragging her towards the car, his arm tight around her throat. _No freaking way am I getting into that car!_ Dani started kicking and fighting him again. The man lying on the ground couldn't have been alone, could he? He must have brought reinforcement. She'd lost her slippers somewhere along the way, and her bare feet prevented her from doing much damage, but Troy did grunt a little when she delivered a good kick to his shin. At the very least she was making dragging her harder for him, buying her rescuers more time…

"Cutler." The voice coming from somewhere behind them was low and menacing, but Dani immediately recognized it and her heart jumped.

"Nico!" she yelled, doubling her efforts to get free from Troy.

"Hold… still… dammit!" Troy grunted. Then he yanked her around so they were both facing Nico, who was standing about thirty feet away from them with a gun in his hand.

Dani had no choice but to cease her struggling in favor of getting enough air into her lungs as Troy's arm held her throat in a viselike grip. Time seemed to slow down and she became sharply, acutely aware of every little detail as she fixed her gaze on Nico. His jaw was clenched tight and his normally hazel eyes now reminded her of black ice. She registered the tight grip he had on the gun, his knuckles white. But his hand wasn't shaking. In fact he stood completely motionless – yet at the same time she could almost feel the air charging around him. When he spoke again, she heard frozen steel in his tone. "Let. Her. Go."

* * *

When he saw Bennett go down, Nico didn't hesitate. He dove for the agent's gun, then rolled back to his feet in one fluid motion, calling Cutler's name. Cutler turned around, yanking Dani up in front of him until her toes barely touched the ground so he could keep hiding behind her like the coward he was. Ever since he'd received Bill's phonecall, Nico's anger had felt like it was a volcano getting ready to erupt. Now, as he locked eyes with Troy Cutler, the boiling lava in his veins suddenly seemed to freeze over, crystallizing his focus and wiping out the world around him. For long moments nothing moved, there were no sounds. Then a voice that Nico hardly recognized as his own and that seemed to come from miles away told Cutler to let Dani go.  
The man flashed him an arrogant smile. "Or else? I really don't think you're in a position to make demands here, Mr. Careles." He hiked Dani fractionally higher up his body, making her gasp and struggle when her feet lost contact with the ground. She raised her right hand to Cutler's arm, clawing at it with her fingernails. "Drop the gun or I'll shoot her."

Nico felt the ice inside of him starting to crack, but his voice came out dead calm. "You shoot her – I kill you. In a heartbeat."

Cutler stared at him for long moments, then seemed to come to a decision. "Okay – you really leave me no choice." Suddenly he wasn't holding the gun against Dani's head anymore. Instead it pointed straight at Nico.

* * *

Troy knew Careles wouldn't risk returning fire as long as his girlfriend was in the way. As dear Abby had once put it, loyalty makes even the smartest people dumb. He pulled the trigger. As the gun went off, Santino suddenly pushed off against him and threw her bodyweight forward. Troy, dealing with the recoil of the gun, couldn't hold on to her and she broke free from his grip as he stumbled backwards, involuntarily firing another shot. A flash of triumph went through him as he saw her fall. Regaining his balance Troy turned around and made a beeline for the car.

* * *

Nico let his instincts take over and dropped to the ground as soon as he registered Cutler's finger tightening on the trigger. He rolled and was back on his feet before the echo of the first shot had a chance to die away. But then his heart froze as a second shot rang out and he saw the woman he loved more than life itself go down at the same time. Ice splintered into a million pieces as the darkness underneath came roaring to the surface. Nico felt it coming and gladly surrendered his control over it, allowing the tidal wave to engulf him completely as he dropped his gun and pounced upon his prey, taking them both to the ground.

* * *

Dani desperately wanted to breathe, so she could get up and make sure Nico was still alive. When she'd thrown herself forward she hadn't really expected Troy to let her go. As she fell, another gunshot had cracked. She thought she'd felt the bullet move the air beside her cheek – and then she'd gotten the wind knocked out of her upon landing. For a few moments she could only lie there, deafened by the shots and numb from the fall, her mind going blank until a single thought had pierced the haze – _Troy shot Nico!_ – and she'd started struggling to get some air into her lungs again. She finally managed to suck in a wheezing breath, then another. The third breath she took returned some of her strength to her, and Dani immediately put her hands on the ground and pushed herself up. Her left arm screamed in agony but she kept pushing until she was on her hands and knees. She hung her head for a moment, gulping in some more air. Her left arm couldn't hold her weight any longer, so she pushed herself into a kneeling position with her right arm, looking up at the same time. And she forgot to breathe.

Troy Cutler was lying on his back, struggling, his hands clawing at the wrists of the man who sat on top of him and seemed to be choking the life out of him. A man that somehow was both Nico and a stranger Dani had never seen before. Strands of hair had fallen into his narrowed eyes and his teeth were bared in a feral snarl. His whole body shook with effort. He looked… Savage. The sight of him chilled Dani to the bone and she instinctively understood that he wouldn't stop until Troy was dead – and that she had to stop him from doing that. Not because she cared what happened to Troy Cutler, but because she was afraid of what killing him might do to Nico.  
"Nico!" She had meant to call out to him, but her voice came out a hoarse whisper. She took a deep breath and tried again. This time her voice was stronger, but she didn't seem to get through to him. She stood up and took the dozen steps that separated them, then went down on her knees again in front of him. His head came up a little, but his eyes seemed to look right through her. "Nico… You can let go now… Please stop." When he still didn't hear her, Dani reached out and put her hand on his cheek, trying to ignore her fear that she might not be able to get through to him before it was too late.

* * *

Somewhere in the distance, he thought he heard someone call his name. But the sound was drowned out by the roar in his ears and he couldn't spare any of his energy to listen harder. He could still feel movement beneath him, although it was getting weaker now, and he needed to focus on that. Besides, there was no one here that mattered to him. The only one that had mattered was… Something soft and cool touched the side of his face. At first he tried to ignore it, but on the bottom of the sea he was drowning in there was something that refused to let him brush it off. Something that found the touch… soothing, wanted him to lean into it. Again, someone said his name. A woman's voice, closer now than it had been before. A familiar scent hit him, light and floral. As light began to pierce the darkness in his soul, Nico Careles struggled to make his way back to the surface. He slowly blinked and focused his eyes on the woman in front of him, trying to figure out if she was real or just a hallucination. "Dani…" he whispered. Her eyes were wide with fear – was she scared of him? Then she gave him a small, trembling smile and he let go of Cutler's neck to be able to pull her into him, desperately needing to hold her – to make sure that she was really alive.

* * *

Dani gladly gave herself up to Nico's embrace. Her left arm hurt too much to be of any more use to her, but she held on to him twice as tight with her right arm. He rested his chin on her head, she buried her face in his chest and breathed in his scent. A shudder ran through her body as her mind insisted on replaying that moment Troy had aimed for him and pulled the trigger – she would have lost him if his reflexes hadn't been that quick. And then when she'd heard the second gunshot… Squeezing her eyes shut Dani tried to swallow back her tears. Her shoulders tensed and her hands fisted as she fought to stay strong. She felt Nico kiss the top of her head. Dani wanted to tell him that she was okay, that they should go tie Troy up or something, but her chest felt too tight to get the words out. As the adrenalin that had kept her going for hours left her system, she started trembling violently and collapsed against him, sobs tearing from her chest.

"Is she okay?" Jenny's voice came from somewhere behind her. God, she had completely forgotten about the girl… And the man that had gotten shot! Dani started to push away from Nico, but he wouldn't let her.

"She will be," he said to Jenny. "She's tough."

"I know," she heard the girl say.

When Dani finally felt like she could breathe again she looked up at him through her tears. "God, Nico, I love you so much." Her voice shook as the words that she hadn't even realized she was gonna say tumbled from her lips. He released a small sigh as he raised a hand to wipe her tears away. Giving her a searching look, he barely noticeably shook his head. Then, gently cupping her cheek, he leaned down and his mouth touched hers in a soft kiss – but just as Dani closed her eyes and parted her lips, a man cleared his throat behind her. Startled, they broke the kiss and looked in the direction of the sound. Four men stood watching them, dressed in black coats that had the word Police stamped on them in white letters. A SWAT team? Where had they come from? And where had they been before, when they were needed?

"What the hell took you guys so long?" Nico voiced her thoughts.

* * *

Later, Dani could only remember fragments of the hours that followed the arrival of the SWAT team. More cops came, all of them asking her to describe what had happened. An ambulance came and took a severely injured agent Bennett away. Troy was arrested and put in the back of a police cruiser. A paramedic kept telling her that she had to come with him to the hospital, then finally dressed her wound when she kept refusing. Jenny came up to her and hugged her. But most of all she remembered Nico, staying by her side the whole time. Touching her whenever he could, reassuring her that Ray Jay was fine and just as tough as his mother was. When the cops offered to drive her home, Nico just told them no, put his arm around her shoulders and took her with him, to the helicopter that had brought him and agent Bennett here. Dani was so exhausted that she fell asleep as soon as she had her seatbelt on and din't really wake up again until the next day.

* * *

Orange light coming from the setting sun filtered in through the window and gave Dani's hair a golden glow. Nico couldn't stop himself from touching it, reveling in the softness of it. He had been touching her a lot in the past few hours, needing the physical contact to reassure himself over and over again that she was really alive. She was lying in her bed, the covers pulled up over her, fast asleep. He had been able to rouse her enough to get her to take a shower, but she'd been out like a light again as soon as her head had hit the pillow. _She's tough_, he had told Jenny Bruce hours before, and he still stood by that statement. But she looked so damn fragile right now. _I love you so much_, her voice whispered in his mind and he released a heavy sigh as he let his fingers slide to her face, careful not to touch the bruises. "I love you too, sweetheart," he whispered, barely audible. He wanted to tell her, even if she couldn't hear him. Because this would be the only chance he'd ever get. She had seen his darkest side today… and it had scared her, like he'd known it would. Remembering the fear he had seen in her eyes made his stomach feel weak. He knew she would fight her fear and that he, in turn, would do everything in his power to stop himself from ever losing control like that around her again – but he knew that dealing with his baggage would take its toll and that she would eventually end up hurt. By him. He still refused to let that happen. Nico leaned forward and kissed her forehead, wanting to stay, to get in bed with her and hold her close to him the rest of the night, but knowing that would only make it harder for him to leave…

"How is she?" Ray Jay whispered from the doorway, startling him a little.

"She's gonna be fine," he whispered back, getting up and walking over to where the boy stood. Together they stepped out of the room, Nico closing the door softly behind him. "Just make sure she takes the pain meds when she needs them, okay?"

"You're not staying." It was a statement, not a question.

Nico wasn't sure what Ray Jay wanted to hear from him, so he just went with the truth. "I can't. Take good care of her." He stepped past the kid and started for the stairs, but Ray Jay's hand on his shoulder held him back.

"Thank you for saving her." Ray Jay's hand dropped away and Nico was free to leave. He knew it was the right thing to do, but his heart grew heavier with every step he took.

**A/N: Thanks again for the reviews, I hope I have done your expectations for the showdown between Nico and Troy justice. I'd love to hear your opinion on this chapter!**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen

"So… did he say why he couldn't stay?" Dani asked Ray Jay. He shook his head, his mouth full of pancakes. They were sitting at the kitchen bar having a late breakfast after Dani had woken up at ten thirty to the unpleasant surprise of Nico being gone.

"No, just to make sure you take your painpills if you need them. Did you?" Ray Jay gave her a worried look.

Dani nodded absently, taking another bite of her own breakfast. She had in fact taken two Ibuprofen and they had helped to dull the various aches in her body somewhat. She planned on taking a hot bath later to try and relax her sore muscles a little. But first she wanted to talk to Nico and ask him why he'd left. _Well, isn't that obvious?_ A voice in the back of her head said. _You told him you loved him, for God's sake!_ Well, sure, but why would that send him running? Then again, he had asked her to be patient with him and blurting out her love the very next day didn't exactly scream patience, did it? Given the circumstances she didn't really blame herself for that, though. She looked at her son again. "Well, then did he say if and when he'd be back?" Again, Ray Jay shook his head. Dani sighed and decided to give Nico a call as soon as possible.

* * *

Nico had to leave his office without taking his phone with him to restrain himself from picking up when the third call from Dani that morning came in. So he walked down the hall to get himself yet another cup of coffee, hoping the new dose of caffeine would help him stay at least somewhat focused on the research he was doing on his new client. He hadn't slept much after leaving her house the night before and when he finally had fallen asleep nightmares starring a dead Dani had plagued him until his alarm clock had beeped. Hearing her voice, if only for a minute, would probably go a long way in getting those images out of his head… But he knew he had to stay strong. She would eventually stop calling, as he remembered from the time right after he'd left the Hawks. _You sure? Because that was before she loved you…_ Nico sighed and punched the button on the coffee machine with a lot more force than was strictly necessary. He knew it might take her a little bit longer to give up on him this time, but she would. All he had to do was hold out till then. Walking back to his office with the paper cup in his hand he tried not to feel the emptiness the thought of never hearing from her again evoked. Sitting back down behind his desk he stared ominously at his now quiet phone, then put it in a drawer so he wouldn't be tempted to check if she had sent him a text. _Okay, enough already – get to work, Careles!_

* * *

Dani was kneading dough to make biscotti, because she just hadn't been able to sit still and wait for Nico to call her any longer. And because visiting hours for Lindsay's floor in the hospital didn't start till two, that left her with a whole lot of nothing useful to do in the mean time. The kneading hurt her arm, but she welcomed the pain as it kept her from worrying about other things too much. Or that had been the plan, at least… Sighing, she started making cookie shapes from the dough and putting them on an oven plate. Why didn't he call her back? Was he just busy or… A knock sounded on her front door then, making her jump. Wiping her hands on a towel she rushed to the door, only to find a man she'd never seen before standing on her porch looking down at the brown bloodstain that was still vaguely visible there. "Um, hello," she said, trying not to sound disappointed.

He looked up and smiled at her. "Doctor Santino, good to see you in one piece. I'm Detective Paul Decker." He took a badge from his coat pocket and showed it to her. "I would like to ask you some follow up questions about yesterday's events – is now a good time for you?"

A sigh escaped her before she could stop it. "More questions, huh? I feel like I've already told you people the same story like a hundred times."

He gave her a sympathetic look. "I know. But this won't take very long, I promise. I'm just wrapping things up before the FBI takes over the case."

"Okay, come on in." She led the detective into the kitchen, where she put the oven plate in the oven before she sat down across the bar from him. "I thought the FBI was on the case already? I mean, Agent Bennett was there yesterday so I assumed…"

"Well yes, but we were the first to respond to your neighbour's call, before we knew about Mr. Cutler. I need to write a report on everything that happened before Bennett got here. Which reminds me, is Mr. Careles also available by any chance? I tried calling him this morning, but no luck."

Dani frowned, not knowing what to make of that. Nico dodging phonecalls from other people too, not just hers – should she be worried about him instead of feeling a little annoyed with his all too familiar elusiveness? "Um, well, I don't know where he is actually, I haven't heard from him either."

That seemed to surprise Decker. "Could you explain the nature of your relationship with Mr. Careles?" he asked.

She blinked. "Why? I mean, what does our… relationship have to do with anything?"

"Just want to get all the facts right, Doctor." The detective gave her a reassuring smile while he took out a notebook and a pen. But Dani didn't feel very reassured. Was there any chance they wanted to prosecute Nico for what he had done to Troy? Had the FBI maybe arrested him already and was that why he wasn't answering his phone? "Your son told me last night that you are dating Mr. Careles. Is that true?" Decker asked.

Dani figured she would only answer the questions about Nico that didn't have anything to do with him attacking Troy Cutler. "I guess… Well, technically there was only one date so far, but we've been… friends for about three years now."

Decker started scribbling in his notebook. "I see. So you met him before you both started working at that talent agency?"

"When we both worked for the Hawks, yes." Dani eyed her phone where it was lying quietly on her kitchen counter. When this was over, she would start calling Nico again. And this time, she was gonna keep hitting redial until he finally answered. She needed to know that he was okay.

"Did you ask Mr. Careles to send a security guard to your house the other night?" Decker interrupted her thoughts again.

"Um, no. He couldn't stay here himself, so he called one of his men… Oh! Do you happen to know anything about Bill's condition?" Nico had told her yesterday that the bodyguard was still alive, but hadn't known more than that either.

"Mr. Clark was lucky, at least that's what his doctor told me yesterday. I'm going to the hospital to interview him next. But can you tell me why Mr. Careles felt the need to have your house guarded?"

Dani took a moment to memorize Bill's last name, deciding she would go visit him after she'd visited Lindsay. She wanted to thank him for trying to protect Ray Jay. And ask him if he'd talked to Nico, of course. She saw Decker raise an eyebrow at her and focused on the conversation again. "Well, Troy Cutler had hurt Lindsay, my daughter. And he'd made it clear that he didn't want me anywhere near SBG. But didn't Nico tell you all this already? Or my son Ray Jay?" Of course Decker didn't answer that. He just went on to his next question, and then the next. Over the next fifteen minutes Dani found herself telling him the exact same story she had told the cops that had questioned her the day before. But he seemed no longer interested in Nico, so she figured it was a good trade off.

After Decker had left, Dani immediately grabbed her phone to start calling Nico again. Just when she was about to hit Send, Ray Jay came down the stairs. "Lindsay just called. She says she's bored and could use some company. But I think she's just saying that because she's worried about you and she wants to see you."

Dani smiled at her son. "Well, let's not keep her waiting any longer then, huh?" She put the phone in her purse.

"Yeah… So uh, have you heard from him yet?" Ray Jay asked.

"Nico? No, he must be busy or something. But I'll, you know, catch him later." She tried to sound relaxed about it.

"Asshole." Ray Jay muttered under his breath when they walked out the door.

"Hey! Ray Jay!" Dani admonished.

He turned around to her, an angry scowl on his face. "Well, he's not much of a boyfriend, right? Leaving you when you are hurt and then not even bothering to call you the next day?"

Dani frowned. What was it with her son disliking Nico so much? Well, only one way to find out, she decided. She stopped him when he started for the car and gave him her sternest look. "Look, Ray Jay, I love Nico, whether you like it or not. And I think he loves me too. But he has some… issues of his own, so he asked me to give him a little space and maybe I just need to be more patient – Ugh, I don't know, but I'll figure it out. What I do know is that I've had enough of you hiding things from me. So – spit it out. Why do you hate Nico?" Crossing her arms and tapping her foot, she waited for his answer.

"Mom, I told you he and Mrs. Pittman…"

Dani held up a hand to cut him off. "No, no, no. You are not gonna give me that crap about Gabrielle Pittman, because I know there's more to it than that. Try again." She watched him drop his eyes to his shoes. He raised a hand to rake it through his hair, then sighed and muttered something she couldn't make out, though she thought she heard Juliette's name. "What was that?" She asked. While she listened to his answer, she felt her jaw drop.

"I said, he tried to keep me away from Juliette, okay? Offered me a shitload of money in fact, to as he put it, get my ass back home immediately." Ray Jay shrugged and looked up at her with a defiant look in his eyes. "I told him to go to hell. Now, I don't know about you, but in my book that doesn't really make him a respectable man!" With that he strode over to the car and got in.

Dani's mind was completely blank for a moment. Then questions started tumbling around in her head, falling over each other like clothes in a washing machine. Could Ray Jay be telling the truth? Sure, Nico had always been very protective of Juliette, but… trying to bribe her son into staying away from his surrogate daughter? Would he really do that? And why? On the other hand, why would Ray Jay make something like that up? Or… Had Ray Jay somehow misread the situation? And, God, would that man ever stop trying to keep secrets from her? The unanswered questions kept coming as she joined Ray Jay in the car and they drove to the hospital in silence. The only thing she was absolutely sure of was that she really needed to talk to Nico, and soon. Now if only she could get him to answer his freaking phone already!

* * *

"Mom? Are you alright? You're so quiet." Lindsay's voice sounded worried.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, honey, I'm just a little tired, that's all." Dani shrugged and smiled at her, ignoring Ray Jay's snort.

Lindsay gave her brother a puzzled look, but he seemed very interested in the many get well cards, that were pinned to the board above Lindsay's bed, all of a sudden. "You sure? I mean, you don't get kidnapped every day, right? You're allowed to be a little… freaked out by that. You wanna go home and rest or something – you just go, okay? I'll still be here tomorrow…" she said to her mother.

"Aw, honey, that's very sweet of you. But no, I'm okay. Really. So, tell me, any cute doctors here?" Dani pasted another smile on her face as Lindsay rolled her eyes and giggled. She tried real hard to focus on her daughter's story about all the ugly doctors that populated the hospital, but it was no use. Her thoughts kept going back to Nico. "Oh my God… I'm so sorry honey," she said when Lindsay raised her eyebrows, making her realize that she was expected to give some sort of reply but having no clue as to what her daughter had just said – and feeling like a horrible mother because of it. "I guess I'm not great company today, huh? Maybe I should go home after all…"

"It's okay mom, I understand. Really." Lindsay reached out and squeezed Dani's hand.

Dani gave her a squeeze in return. She had to swallow a couple of times before she was able to say something again. "Okay, I guess I'll be going then. See you tomorrow, sweetie." She stood up and saw Ray Jay do the same. "Oh, no, Ray Jay, you don't have to come with me! Stay here and visit with your sister, okay? I'll take a cab home." She kissed Lindsay's forehead and saw Ray Jay frown at her.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Positive. Stay. We'll talk over dinner tonight." Dani gave him a pointed look and he averted his eyes as he nodded and sat down again. Lindsay's face took on a puzzled expression again as she looked back and forth between them, but she said nothing. "Okay. You kids have fun now," Dani said before quickly walking out the door. Leaning against the wall outside Lindsay's room, she released a heavy sigh. She hated herself a little for leaving like that, but made a solemn promise to herself that she would make it up to Lindsay tomorrow. Then she walked straight up to the nurses station and asked the nurse on duty in which room Bill Clark was.

* * *

The hallway on Bill's floor was empty when Dani got out of the elevator. She followed the signs till she got to his room and hesitated. Detective Decker had told her he was gonna interview Bill next, so maybe it wasn't such a good idea to go visit with him now. Then the door opened and a nurse walked out, and Dani saw that Bill appeared to be alone. So she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and walked inside, wincing a little when she saw the bandages that were covering his chest and the paleness of his face. "Um, hello, Bill… Remember me?" she asked with a hesitant smile.

He looked her over, his blue eyes going wide when his gaze landed on her face. "Aw, hell… I'm so sorry, ma'am… You know, for not doing my job properly."

She stared at him. Did he really think she blamed him for getting shot? "Bill, you don't have to apologize. What happened wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, that's what everyone keeps telling me… But I still think I should've seen it coming." He turned his head away towards the window and sighed heavily.

Dani sat down in the chair beside his bed. How to handle this? She didn't have to think about that one long. "Look, Bill… You know I'm a therapist, right?" she eventually asked. He turned his head towards her again and nodded at her, his eyes guarded. He needed to know she understood how he felt, but also to see that he was only human, body guard training or not. And she had a story that would serve both goals perfectly. "As you probably know, therapists are trained to recognize the signs of suicidal behaviour in a patient. Kind of like you guys are trained to recognize the signs of danger, I imagine." She waited for him to acknowledge that statement with a nod. Then she took a deep breath and continued. "Well, here's the thing. A few months ago, I failed to see those signs and I lost one of my patients because of it. He jumped off a building." She watched him cringe in sympathy. "Now, would you blame me for that?" she asked him then.

"Well – no…" Bill looked genuinely shocked at the idea. "But that's different, ma'am."

"Really? How so?" Dani tilted her head and raised her eyebrow.

"Because… It's… Hell, you know…" Bill frowned at the ceiling. Dani just waited. "Wow. You're good, ma… Doctor!" he eventually said.

He looked more at ease now, and Dani felt satisfied that she had achieved that. He might not feel completely free of guilt yet, but the first step had been taken. "Thank you. You know, Bill – that's actually what I came here to say in the first place. Thank you for doing your best to protect us."

"Aw, ma'am, you're being too kind…" He looked away from her again.

"I most certainly am not. But that's not the only reason I'm here." Dani mentally crossed her fingers. "You see, I was also wondering if you had talked to Nico today – Mr. Careles, I mean."

Bill gave her a surprised look. "Well, sure. He came by just two hours ago."

"He did, huh? Well, that's…" Dani's voice trailed off as disappointment hit. A part of her had hoped that Nico just hadn't been able to find the time to get back to her yet. But he seemed to be avoiding her once again.

"He, uh, he said that he had to go meet with a client, so he didn't stay real long." Bill's voice was tinged with sympathy. "Only about ten minutes, then he was out the door again."

Dani smiled, but her eyes stung a little. "Okay. Um, thank you. I'll just try and call him again then." She sighed and stood up. "Well, Bill, it was good to see you, but I gotta go now. I'm kinda tired, so…" She shrugged and turned for the door, but his voice held her back.

"Doctor?" When Dani turned to him again, he was looking at her with an earnest expression. He shrugged awkwardly. "Just… If I can do anything at all to, you know, make up for… Well, you know… Just ask, okay?"

Dani smiled and was about to once again reassure him that he didn't have anything to make up for, when an idea came to her. "Well, there is something I would really like to know. Maybe you can help me with that…" She told him what it was and he didn't think twice about answering her question – and then some. "Thank you," she said when he was finished.

"You're welcome… But I don't think that's nearly enough. I still owe you."

Her smile felt more natural this time. "I say it's more than enough. Now, don't tell… anyone I was here today, okay?"

"Good luck." He replied with a smile of his own, and then Dani saw him make the gesture of zipping his mouth shut. She gave him a small wave in return and left the room, anxious to go home and think things over. She wasn't even sure yet what exactly she wanted to do with the information he'd just given her, but she did realize how powerful it was – and that Nico wouldn't like it one bit if and when he found out that she had it. _Well, tough – all's fair in love and war, right?_ With a firm nod to confirm that thought, Dani punched the button for the elevator and took out her phone to check for any missed calls.

**A/N: To those of you who really had their hopes up that Dani and Nico would finally figure things out in this chapter – sorry! But as one of the characters in the wonderful movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel would say: "In the end, everything will be alright. So if everything is not alright, it is not yet the end!" (And I for one am kinda glad this chapter isn't the end of this story yet…)**

**I will get to work on chapter 17 now, so I can hopefully update again soon. In the mean time, you know how much I love to read your reviews, so please tell me what you thought of this!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Apologies for the delay (again). Next update will probably NOT be this weekend, as I have promised my boyfriend to give him some more attention. Hope you'll anjoy this enough to leave a review!**

Chapter seventeen

Dani felt like she could totally relate to the two birds that were very vocally fighting each other over some food in her front yard when she got out of the cab. Something similar was happening in her mind right now, with one part of her saying she should give Nico the space he'd asked her for and the other part demanding she put the information Bill had given her to good use sooner rather than later. Sighing, she paid the cab driver and walked up her driveway while rummaging around in her purse looking for her keys. The birds flew away when she got too near to them for their liking and frankly that was a relief. She felt a headache coming on. As soon as she got inside, she would take some more Ibuprofen and then go take the bath she'd had planned since this morning. When Ray Jay got home, they could order pizza and… Ha, there were the keys! She took them out of her purse and looked up, right in time to have someone shove a huge bouquet of wildflowers into her face. "Whoa!" Dani cried out, raising her arms.

"Woops. Sorry, Doctor D! I thought you saw me!" TK quickly took a step back, giving her a wide grin that quickly gave way to a shocked expression as he took in her face. "Damn, girl! They told me you were kidnapped by that Cutler creep, but nobody said anything about you gettin' hit by a bus too…"

"Ha-ha. Nice to see you too, Terrence… But you do realize your appointment isn't until tomorrow, right?" Dani raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But I just hadda come see for myself how my favorite therapist was doing." He held out the flowers again. "Plus I wanted to give you these."

She couldn't help but smile as she took the bouquet from him. "Thank you, Terrence, they are lovely."

His eyes beemed with pride. "They are, right? I picked them out myself. I went for the yellow ones cuz I thought they looked like those flowers you have on the chairs. You know, in your office?"

"Well, that is very thoughtful of you, Terrence. I will put them in a nice vase and then you can admire them in my office tomorrow, okay?"

"You got yourself a date!" TK grinned. "And hey, you know what? So do I… I'd better get goin' or I'll be late. And let me tell you one thing about my girl India, she don't like waiting!"

Dani remembered running into TK and India outside the SBG building on Monday morning. God, that seemed weeks ago… "So, you asked her out, huh? Good for you!" she said, but he shook his head.

"Aw, hell no – she asked TK out. Said she didn't wanna wait no longer for me to quit foolin' around and see what's right in front of me. Gotta love a woman who goes after what she wants, right? Especially if what she wants is TK!" He laughed.

The arguing voices in Dani's head had fallen silent while he talked, and she sighed with relief. "Well, Terrence, I'm glad things are working out for you and India." She really was. India struck Dani as a girl who would know just how to handle TK's antics, and the wide receiver seemed to be really in love this time, not just looking for some no-strings affair. "Have fun tonight, okay?"

"Oh, don't worry 'bout that, Doc! Tell you all about it tomorrow!" TK winked and chuckled, then headed down the driveway.

"Just remember I won't need all the juicy details!" Dani called after him. He just raised his hand in greeting and got in his car. Rolling her eyes and smiling, she went inside. She put the flowers in a vase and brought it to her office, still thinking about India going after what she wanted.

* * *

At six in the evening, Nico decided to call it a day already. He hadn't been able to get much work done anyway. But before he could go home, he needed to check in with some of his men to get updates on the progress of their various assignments. He opened his desk drawer very carefully, as if there was a bomb inside that would go off if he moved too quick. Nothing happened, of course. Feeling silly, he reached for his phone – dropping it when it started to vibrate the exact second he picked it up from the bottom of the drawer. "Dammit!" He snatched the damn thing up again and scowled at the caller ID. It wasn't even her, it was an unknown caller. Trying to ignore the disappointment he felt, he unlocked the phone. "Careles."

"Mr. Careles, this is Paul Decker with the NYPD. Glad I finally caught you." The man sounded a bit out of breath, as if he'd been running or something.

"Decker? What's going on? Something wrong?" _With Dani?_ Nico left that last part unspoken, but he couldn't keep the concerned tone from his voice.

Decker of course picked up on it immediately. "No, Doctor Santino is fine – although you should probably give her a call if you're so worried about her."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, thanks for the advice, I'll keep it in mind. But I'm guessing that's not why you're really calling me."

"No, it's not. Actually I wanted to ask you some follow up questions about the Santino case. I'm… ten minutes away from your office. Alright if I come by now?" Nico wanted to say no, because he really wanted to go home. But he knew Decker wouldn't leave him alone until he'd asked his damn questions, so he reluctantly agreed. He then dropped the phone back on top of the pens and paper clips and closed the drawer with a bang.

* * *

The smell of pepperoni pizza still lingered in the kitchen and the boxes the food had arrived in were littering the counter. Dani and Ray Jay were sitting at the kitchen table with some coffee, both wrapped up in their own thoughts. "So, Ray Jay – I wanted to talk to you about Paris. Well, about what you told me about Nico actually." Dani said eventually.

He frowned at her. "I really don't get why you're so hung up on this guy, mom. He's bad news."

Dani flattened her hands on the table and frowned back at him. "Ray Jay."

He sighed and crossed his arms. "I told you all there is to know. He tried to buy me off. I said go to hell. End of story."

Dani leaned forward. "He just popped up out of the blue and offered you money. Just like that."

"Yes. Juliette says that's what he does. Pays people to get lost. Sometimes threatens them too."

Dani remembered how Nico had once paid off a private detective her ex had hired. But that was different. Or wasn't it? "Well, that may be true, more or less, but why do it to you? Did he give you a reason?"

"I told you already. He didn't want me near Juliette."

Dani really didn't understand why Nico would want to protect Juliette from Ray Jay. Her son may have his flaws, but he could hardly be considered a bad seed. "So he told you to stay away from her?"

"No. Not in so many words. But Juliette told me he's scared guys away from her before, so…" Ray Jay shrugged. "Besides, what other reason could he have?" He pushed his chair back. "Okay if I go now? I promised some friends I'd drop by." Without waiting for her reaction, he rushed out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Dani sighed and massaged her forehead with both hands. After a while, she heard him come downstairs again and looked up just in time to see him walk by the kitchen. When the front door slammed shut, she reluctantly got up to clean the kitchen and make herself some tea. She'd really rather have a glass of wine, but she needed a clear head to think things over. It took her two cups of tea to reach a decision. By then, it was almost nine. Time to go put on her combat gear, she thought with a slight smile.

Thirty minutes later, she was dressed and ready to go after what she wanted. She grabbed her purse and took out the folded piece of paper on which she'd written down the address Bill had given her that afternoon. She traced her own handwriting with her finger, thinking about how strange it was. Nico had been in her life for three years now, and yet she had never once in all that time set foot in his home. Well, that was about to change. Because by not answering his phone and not calling her back either, what other choice had he left her with? Putting the paper back in her purse she grabbed her car keys and walked out the front door.

* * *

Nico walked into his apartment, took off his blazer and briefly stood eyeing his liquor cabinet. There was a perfectly good bottle of Scotch in there that might help him relax, maybe even sleep if he drank enough of it. Problem was, it would more than likely also make him want to do stupid things involving his phone and the woman he couldn't stop thinking about. Not a good idea. He did, however, need to do something about the restless energy that was buzzing around in his system if he wanted to have even the slightest chance of getting any sleep tonight. Unbuttoning his shirt he went into his bedroom where he carelessly let it drop to the floor while walking over to his closet to get his workout clothes. Nothing like a session in his well equipped home gym to work off the tension. Well, almost nothing. But he tried not to think of other good ways of letting off steam because they only made his mind wander back to Dani again.

* * *

Dani's black high-heeled boots echoed on the marble steps leading up to the entrance of the luxury apartment building that Nico seemed to live in. She spotted the keypad next to the doorbells and took out the piece of paper again. Underneath the address was a six-digit code that, as Bill had assured her, would enable her to open the entrance door without having to ring the doorbell first. Dani thought the keypad looked like something straight out of a spy movie, with its blinking red light. She entered the code and the light went green. The entrance door swung open automatically. Dani walked inside, into a big lobby with a shiny black marble floor that seemed like it would be a better fit for an office building. Or a bank, maybe. The elevators were on the other end of the lobby, next to a door that was labeled Security. Bill had told her that there were security camera's everywhere, but she hadn't been able to spot one yet. As she walked towards the elevators she wondered who, besides ex Navy Seals, would feel the need to live in a building with this kind of security. And why Nico did. Well, maybe she could add that one to her list of questions to ask him, although it wasn't nearly as important as _why did you leave_ and _why did you try to buy off my son_. Taking out her compact mirror, she checked her appearance one last time while waiting for the elevator on the left. She'd done her best to conceal the bruises Troy had left on her face with make up, but it hadn't worked as well as she'd hoped. So she had left her hair loose and put on some fiery red lipstick in an attempt to divert attention from them. The red lipstick also went very well with the red tank top she had on under her black leather jacket. As she put the compact mirror back into her purse, the elevator dinged to signal its arrival. She got in, pushed the button for the top floor and spent the ride up trying to calm down her flutterig stomach by taking deep breaths. It worked. Kind of.  
The elevator doors opened to another lobby, but this one was smaller and had thick sand-colored carpet on the floor instead of cold black marble, which was a relief as the echoing of her heels had made her very self conscious. There seemed to be only one apartment on this floor, Dani noticed as she stepped out of the elevator. Well, that figured, didn't it? Of course he would live in the penthouse. Having neighbours on each side wasn't exactly his style… Walking across the lobby, she squared her shoulders and took one more deep breath. Then she raised her hand and firmly knocked on the heavy hardwood door.

* * *

Nico had spent an hour doing the most intensive workout he could think of, but it hadn't done much to relieve his tension and instead of feeling merely frustrated, he now felt frustrated and sweaty. He went into the bathroom and took off his T-shirt. Just when he reached out to turn on the shower, he heard a knock on his front door. For a moment he just wanted to ignore it, but he knew he couldn't. The only people who had the downstairs access code were Bill and Xeno, and if Xeno came knocking around midnight, it was probably urgent. As he walked to the door the knocking was repeated. "Yeah yeah, I'm coming," Nico muttered. He pulled the door open without bothering to check the identity of his visitor first. And then he could only stand there, feeling like someone had knocked the breath right out of his lungs, as he saw Dani looking up at him, her hands on her hips and a determined look in her eyes.

"Hi," she said, "Mind if I come in?" Without waiting for his reply, she just stepped right past him and walked straight into his living room, her heels clicking loudly on his oak floors. "Nice place you got here," she called back at him over her shoulder, making him realize that he was still standing at the front door, staring after her.

Dani had a hard time keeping her voice casual. She hadn't exactly counted on him opening the door wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants. His bare chest had immediately invoked all kinds of mental images and memories she could really have done without for the time being. She needed to focus on other things now. As she sat down on the black leather couch she heard him enter the room. "What are you doing here? Who gave you the access code?" He asked.

She turned her head towards him. He was standing just inside the room giving her a guarded look. "You're not the only one who has resources, you know. As for what I'm doing here… We need to talk."

He heaved a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Dani… I think it's better if you leave now."

"Yeah, see, I knew you were gonna say that." Dani crossed her arms and gave him her best squint. "Well, guess what? You're out of luck. Because I'm not going anywhere until you've answered my questions."

**A/N: Oh, yeah, I almost forgot... Get your fans ready, people, next chapter we will be taking the heat up a notch :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Thank you all again for the wonderful reviews, hope I can keep living up to your expectations. It may surprise you that I have updated so soon after my last chapter, but there is a good reason for that. I have had this in my head for weeks now, ever since I wrote that first love scene in fact, and it came out easily. But before you start reading, I think it's only fair to give you a **

*****WARNING*** **

**This one is NOT suitable for reading while at work as it may cause your coworkers to give you funny looks, or to start asking you funny questions, like why you are blushing and fanning yourself... Also, there's explicit language.  
**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter eighteen

Nico had to take a minute to get his shit together again. He still couldn't believe she was sitting there on his couch, looking good enough to eat in her skintight black jeans and those sexy high-heeled boots. But he realized he couldn't let his true feelings show now. This was his chance to get it through her head once and for all that he was anything but the right man for her. So he crossed his arms and scowled at her. "Dani. I asked you to leave. There's nothing for you here." Hurt flashed in her eyes but was gone the next moment, her face once again taking on that grim and determined expression. She stood up and came sauntering over to him. It was all he could do to keep his arms crossed instead of reaching out to her when she got within touching distance. Her eyes were now glaring daggers at him.

"So, you want me to leave?" She asked.

"Yes." _No_.

Crossing her own arms again, she gave him a challenging look. "Make me." She didn't move. Neither did she look away from him, despite the angry look he gave her. He took a step towards her, invading her personal space, towering over her. But she stood her ground. "You're not scaring me, you know." Her voice was steady.

"You should be. Scared. You know what I'm capable of." Nico said.

"Is that why you ran?" she replied. "Is that what your nightmares are about?"

He flinched. "I don't want to talk about the nightmares."

"Fine. Then tell me why you ran." Now she was the one taking a step forward, coming so close to him that Nico felt the soft leather of her jacket lightly brush his arm, sending a slight shiver through his body. He looked down at her and saw her lips part a little as she sighed inaudibly. Her eyes widened fractionally and the challenge in them gave way to longing. Closing his own eyes, he swallowed. He wanted to kiss that red lipstick right off her lips… Right when he was about to cave and do just that, he felt her back up a little. "God, Nico – could you at least go put on a shirt or something? You're not making this any easier."

_Look who's talking!_ He opened his eyes and gave her his most intimidating scowl. "You're free to leave anytime."

"Yeah. I know. We already established that that's not gonna happen any time soon." The challenge was back in her eyes.

_Damn woman!_ "You're too stubborn for your own good."

"I know. I'm tough, too. Never give up the good fight. That's what you love about me, if I remember correctly. So why did you run, Nico?"

Okay, if she wanted him to spell it out for her, he would. "Because we can't be together, dammit! I'm not the right man for you."

"Really. And don't I get a say in that?" She stepped up close again. Once more there was fire in her eyes, but this time not from longing. "Because I happen to think you are the only man for me." Her voice was a low whisper.

Nico stepped back. "You don't know what I am," he bit out. He turned so he wouldn't have to look at her anymore and took another step away from her. "You don't understand."

"Then tell me. Help me understand." Dani replied. He heard her taking a step towards him again. "Tell me what you are. Tell me why you're not right for me." Once more her heels clicked on the floor. She was getting too close again. "But it won't change a thing, you know." Nico tensed as her warm hand touched his shoulder blade, carressed it. "Because I know what kind of man you are, remember? And I happen to love that man."

She didn't pull her hand back, just kept it resting there as she waited for him to say something to that. "You should stay away from me." He tried one last time.

"I won't. I don't want to." Still defying him.

Nico turned around, grabbing her arm in the same quick motion, right above the spot where he knew the bruises he'd put on her wrist were. "You've seen what I can do. That could happen again. I could really hurt you."

Instead of flinching away from him, like she'd done when he grabbed her wrist in the car on Monday morning, she surprised him by smiling sweetly at him. Her voice, however, was anything but sweet. "I would like to see you try."

Before Nico could reply to that stunning statement, Dani surprised him even more by launching herself at him and pressing her mouth to his. Blood started pounding in his ears as he felt her tongue against his lips, demanding access. He tried to resist, but then she wrapped her free arm around him and dug her nails in the skin of his shoulder blade. He groaned, opening his mouth, and wrapped his own arms around her. Taking control of the kiss, he backed her up against the wall, bringing his lower body forward to grind himself against her core. He felt more than heard her moan as she let both hands slide to his ass and pulled him into her more firmly, rubbing herself against him. He could feel her heat even through the layers of clothes between them. Lust and alarm shot through his body at the same time and he tore his mouth away from hers. "We should stop. Now."

"Why?" She looked up at him, her eyes blazing with desire, her mouth swollen.

He backed away from her slightly. "Because I'm about to lose control."

She bit her bottom lip and gave him a naughty smile that did all kinds of crazy things to his stomach. Not to mention his dick. "Mmm. I love it when you lose control," she whispered.

Nico tried to take a step back, but his feet seemed to be glued to the floor. The need in her eyes mesmerized him, drew him in. _Look away from her, dammit._ He leaned in closer. "Dani… I don't want to hurt you," he said. He could feel his control slipping away.

She came up on her toes. "Nico," she said against his mouth, "You couldn't hurt me if you tried."

He felt her teeth nibble at his lower lip. Then her hand moved from his ass to cup his throbbing length, squeezing gently, stroking slowly… And he was lost. Growling in the back of his throat he took posession of her mouth again, moving his hands to her ass and lifting her up. She immediately wrapped her legs around him, grabbing on to his shoulders with both hands. Without breaking the kiss, he carried her to his bedroom.

* * *

Dani was amazed by how quickly things had heated up between them. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had the vague thought that this wasn't quite working out the way she'd planned – but she couldn't bring herself to care as long as he kept kissing her like this. Feeling light headed with desire and feverish with need, she could only hold on to Nico tight as he carried her. She had only one complaint. There were too many clothes between them. She needed to feel her skin against her own. Now would be good… He stopped walking. She unwrapped her legs from around his waist and slid down his body until she was standing on her feet again. Bringing her arms back, she let the jacket slide to the floor while his hands started tugging on the hem of her tank top. She broke the kiss and lifted her arms. Nico yanked the top up over her head and as it was sliding over her arms it snagged on the bandage covering the wound on her left arm. Making a frustrated noise Dani shook the offending arm a little, unsnagging the top so he could take it all the way off. But he didn't. She looked up at him to find him staring at the bandage. _Uh-oh._ "Nico." She waited for him to look at her and made sure the truth showed in her eyes as she managed three short sentences. "It's fine. I barely feel it. Now kiss me."  
For a second, she thought he wouldn't. Then he made that growling sound again and his mouth came down on hers. Dani wrapped her arms around him, pulling him flush against her. The lace of her bra chafed her nipples as she pressed her breasts against his hard chest and she moaned at the feel of it. Nico broke away from her and started kissing and licking his way down her neck to her breasts, drawing more moans from her. Her legs were starting to feel a little weak and he must have caught on to that because she felt his strong arm tightening around her, holding her up. Without warning his mouth closed around her nipple and he sucked it hard through the black lace, making her gasp and her insides feel liquid. Her hands seemed to come up out of their own volition, grabbing his head to make sure he kept doing that. He obliged, alternating between both breasts, until her legs couldn't hold her any longer and she moved her hands to his shoulders to keep from falling, digging her nails into his skin. Nico let out a low groan and lifted her up again. Then her world tilted as he tumbled them down on his bed together.  
Dani almost cried out in protest when his mouth left her breast but then she felt his lips and tongue trace a path down her abdomen, making the muscles there jump like crazy, and her cry became a gasp of pleasure. When he reached the waistband of her jeans he got up off the bed and made quick work of the button and fly, and she lifted her hips to help him get the pants off her body. He yanked it down to her boots. She then expected him to take those off, but he looked at her with dark eyes and a hungry look on his face. "I need to taste you." Before his blunt statement could make her self conscious he shoved her panties down to her knees, bent over and licked her, making her hips buck violently. The sound of his appreciative moan was drowned out by her cry of pleasure, but she felt it all the better. Dani got lost in sensations for a while as he kept on pleasuring her with his mouth. Just when she was about to reach the edge, he stopped. Moaning in frustration, Dani tried to grab on to his head to keep him going, but he was already out of reach. He pulled off her boots, jeans and panties, then dropped his own sweat pants.  
The sight of his hard, throbbing length made her mouth water. "No." She said when he moved to join her on the bed again. He froze, an uncertain look on his face. She sat up, went to her knees and smiled up at him. "My turn," she whispered, closing her hand around him. His eyes glazed over with lust and she felt him tighten his muscles as she bent her head and took the tip of him in her mouth, reveling in his salty-sweet taste. As she loved him with her lips and tongue he rested his hand on her head but he didn't try to set up a rhythm. In fact, he seemed to be more than happy to let her take control. Taking full advantage of that Dani licked, sucked and stroked him, alternating between quick and tantalizingly slow, deep and shallow, until she felt his hand tighten in her hair, holding her still.

"Enough." His voice was shaky and breathless, his eyes burning with need. Gently, he tugged at her hair and she let him go, feeling a little disappointed that he wouldn't let her finish. But then his mouth was on hers again and she forgot to feel anything but pleasure. He pushed at her shoulders, making her lie back on the bed again. Then he came over her, leaning on his elbows. She felt him hard against her core and couldn't resist grinding against him.  
He broke their kiss and reared up on his knees, reaching for the nightstand. For a moment, her lust-hazed mind couldn't grasp his intention as he rummaged around in the drawer, but then his hand came back out holding a box of condoms. _Oh. Right. Good thinking._ She watched as he impatiently tried to open the box, then groaned in frustration and snatched it away from him. Using her nails she made quick work of the plastic around the box and handed it back to him. He opened the lid and condoms came tumbling out. Grabbing one, he quickly opened the wrapper, put the condom on and came back to her. She welcomed him with open arms, greedily sealing her lips to his again. And then, finally, he entered her, burying himself to the hilt in one smooth stroke.  
Dani sighed with pleasure as she felt him fill her up completely, then pull almost all the way back out and thrust again. She wrapped her legs around him and tilted her hips to feel him even deeper inside, grabbing on to his shoulders and closing her eyes. He pulled out again. "Look at me." His voice demanded. Opening her eyes, she felt him slowly entering her again. "I want to see it. All of it." He whispered. She nodded and he started moving, slowly at first, then picking up the pace and deepening his thrusts as he took her up higher and higher, whispering words she couldn't really make out but that sounded like caresses. She kept looking into his eyes as she moved with him, already feeling the first waves of pleasure ripple through her. Her breath came out in short gasps as she surrendered to them and her hips started moving uncontrollably. His blazing eyes were all she could see, his whispering voice all she could hear, when the world around her was washed away by a tidal wave of sensations, beginning in her core and spreading out through her whole body. Then the wave swept her up and made her drown in ecstasy while she cried out his name.

* * *

Nico almost lost it when her eyes glazed over, she cried out and he felt her muscles clamp down on him hard, but he managed to hold himself back as he rode her through it. He slowed his pace as she relaxed again and came back to him, a look of amazement on her face. His heart overflowed with the love he felt for this woman, but he couldn't bring himself to say the words. So he bent his head and kissed her, trying to say it without words. He kept thrusting into her, his hips picking up speed again as he felt his own orgasm build. It was all he could do not to start pounding into her like an animal, but he managed to keep his strokes controlled. Then she broke their kiss and looked up at him, her eyes filled with love. "Let go," she whispered, nearly undoing him. He shook his head and she raised her hands, cupping his face when he would have looked away. "I want all of you."

He couldn't. He'd hurt her. "You. Don't. Know…" His hips kept moving out of their own accord, punctuating each word he ground out between his clenched teeth. "What. You're. Asking."

"Not asking. Offering." Her voice was breathless and he felt her muscles start to clench again. His heart was throbbing in his ears, almost drowning out her next words. "I'm yours, Nico. Take me." That was it. He had the sensation of a lever being pulled somewhere deep inside of him, making his mind go blank, and he started pounding in a frantic rhythm. "Oh, yes. That's it," he heard her moan. "More. Please. Don't hold back…" The last thread of his control broke. Rearing back, he hooked her legs over his elbows to get even deeper, clenching his eyes shut and throwing his head back. "Look. At. Me." He heard her say. He did. And was amazed by the love and unbridled lust he saw in her eyes. He started moving even faster, fucking her as hard as he could, sweat breaking out all over his body, the headboard of his bed slamming into the wall over and over… And still, she met him thrust for thrust and her eyes were burning with passion. When he felt her muscles contract around him and she cried out his name again at the same time his own climax bore down at him, a roar of pleasure welled up from his chest. He couldn't for the life of him hold it in. So he let it tear from his throat as he plunged into oblivion, holding himself as deep inside her as he could go.

* * *

Panting heavily, Nico rolled to his back to keep from crushing her. Dani rolled with him and put her head on his chest, cuddling up to him, her heated skin feeling soft against his own. His breathing started to slow down and he felt his body grow heavy as he absently stroked her hair and shoulder. "Feel better now?" Dani asked, a smile in her voice.

"Much," he answered with a smile of his own as he remembered her answer when he'd asked her that after their encounter at her house a few nights ago. He closed his eyes, simply enjoying the moment and feeling more relaxed and at peace with himself than he had in… Well, years actually. He released a content sigh and pulled her closer, wishing he could stay here with this beautiful, brave woman forever. It had taken courage for her to stand up to him like she had done tonight, putting him on the spot like that. But then, that's who she was, right? A courageous, strong, tough woman… She had proven that over and over again. Hope bloomed in his heart as he thought about that some more and realized that maybe she wouldn't run away when he told her the truth about himself. He sighed again. And even if his hope turned out to be false, he understood now that he could no longer keep it from her. She deserved the chance to make up her own mind about him. Besides, she had given him everything tonight, it was only fair to do the same. "Dani?" Part of him hoped she had fallen asleep already, so he could delay this.

"Yes?" She sounded totally awake.

"I love you." He felt her holding her breath at that. Funny how easy the words had come out now that he had decided to go and ruin it all… He forced himself to go on, before she could say anything in return. "But before this goes any further, there's something about me that you should know." She quietly released the breath she'd been holding, but didn't say anything. The silence grew heavy and for long moments Nico didn't know how to go on. There was really no way of softening the blow he was about to deliver, was there? So he decided to just open his mouth and let the words tumble out. "My name is Dominic Eugene Careles – And I'm a murderer." His heart thudded heavily in his chest and he felt his body growing tense again as he clenched his jaw and held his breath while he waited for her reaction.

**A/N: Sorry - I seem to have developed a thing for writing cliffhangers. I'll do my best to update soon!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Finally. It's out. The importance of this chapter made it the hardest one I have written yet - I didn't want to screw it up... my inner perfectionist still isn't completely happy with it. I hope you are! Let me know what you think. Oh, and maybe you should get your tissues out before you start reading.**

Chapter nineteen

She was quiet for so long, that Nico was starting to think that she hadn't heard what he'd said. "Dani?" He whispered eventually.

She raised her head – and then placed a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you too."

He frowned. "Dani, I just told you..." He fell silent when her hand touched his mouth.

"Hush. I wasn't done talking. I heard what you said. But you should know by now that nothing you can say will scare me away. I love you. Nothing you tell me will change that. Now, do you want to tell me why you think you are a murderer?" She lifted her hand away from his lips to cup his cheek with it.

He searched her eyes and found nothing but love and compassion there. "Because it's true." He sighed. Then, needing to move, he shifted away from her and swung his legs over the side of the bed. But he realized there was nowhere to go, so he just leaned forward and rested his forehead in his hands. "You saw what I did to Cutler."

She sat up too and put her hand on his shoulder. "If I remember correctly, you didn't kill Troy. In fact, the last time I saw him, he was sitting in the back of a police cruiser giving me a dirty look."

"No. I didn't kill him. But I could have. I would have. I... I wanted to." Again, he needed to move. Getting up, he walked around the bed to where his sweatpants were lying on the floor. Picking them up, he turned his back to her and started putting them on. So he wouldn't have to look at her as he spoke his next words. "I've done it before."

"When you were a SEAL?" She asked quietly.

He couldn't help but notice that she hadn't followed him off the bed. Was he starting to scare her? He turned around and looked at her sitting there, her arms around her knees. But still there was no fear on her face. She just looked at him with that same sympathetic look he'd seen her use on her clients. The one that said _I'm here for you and you can tell me anything_. "Yes." He sighed heavily, raking a hand through his hair. "Look, Dani... If we're gonna talk about this, I'm gonna need a drink." He went into the living room to pour himself that Scotch he'd wanted earlier that night. When he turned around Dani came into the room, wearing nothing but the shirt he had worn to work that day. It came almost to her knees and she was busy rolling up the sleeves while she walked towards him. She should have looked like a kid trying on grown-up's clothes, but he had never seen a kid with a cleavage like hers.

Glancing up at him, she gave him a shy smile. "Hope it's okay that I borrowed this. Those jeans I had on earlier? They look way more comfortable than they are."

Nico cleared his throat. "Keep it. It looks much better on you."

Her smile widened a bit before her face went serious again. "So…" She gave him an encouraging look.

He held the glass out to her, but she shook her head. Taking a sip himself, he tried to figure out where to start. "Most of my missions as a SEAL were classified. I can't tell you about those. You know that."

"Yes, I do. But they did involve… Killing. Didn't they?" There was no judgment in her voice or her eyes. And he was glad to notice there also wasn't any hero worshipping. A lot of people thought the SEALs were a kind of super heroes, but he felt like anything but. That was true for most of them in fact, although there were exceptions.

Nico walked past her to the floor to ceiling window, where he could look at the city lights while he told her his story. It was easier that way. "Yes. They did. At first I told myself that it was either them or me. Kill or be killed. That worked. For a while." _Don't think about it_. That had been their motto in those days. You did your best not to think about the lives you took, tried to not see them as human lives. You just pointed your rifle, pulled the trigger. Or you pressed the button that made the explosives go boom. Then you stopped thinking about it and moved on to the next mission. "But by the time they sent me on my last mission, I was sick of it. Decided I wanted out." He felt his lips twist into a rueful smile. "Wish I'd made up my mind about that sooner. Because that mission… It changed everything." He saw her reflection come closer in the window. She didn't touch him. Because he'd pulled away from her before? Or because she couldn't stand touching him?

"Iraq." It wasn't a question. "The one where you got captured and Marshall Pittman came to rescue you."

He nodded. "It took Marshall and his crew some time to find me, though. Six days, to be exact. The men who captured me… Let's just say they made the most of our time together." He saw her wince as understanding hit. Then she came to him and put her hand on his back, offering silent support. He wanted to lean into her touch, but he knew he'd break down if he did that. And now that he had started it, he needed to finish the story. He downed the last of his Scotch and pulled away from her, walking over to the liquor cabinet to put the empty glass on top of it. He hesitated before going back to the window, but he found he couldn't bring himself to keeping his distance from her. He did make sure he stayed out of her reach. Taking a deep breath, he started talking again. "I was in… bad shape by then. Still fought them every chance I got, though."

"Good for you," he heard her mutter.

"When Marshall and his team found me, I had just managed to… take down the guard that had come to drag me from my cell to their… their interrogation room. Had my hands around his throat…" His voice trailed off as he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the cool window. He felt her hand touch his back again, and this time he didn't have the strength to pull away. He had to force the next part of his story from his constricted throat. "I couldn't stop myself. At one point he lost consciousness. I could have stopped then, make a run for it. But I didn't want to. Then Marshall was pulling at me, telling me that we needed to get out of there ASAP. I just shoved him out of my way and got back to it. Because all I wanted was to kill that guy. And I did."

"Oh, Nico…" She sounded sad. Her hand caressed his back.

He enjoyed her touch for a moment, trying to draw strength from it. Because now came the hardest part. The part that would scare her away from him, despite her earlier promise. And who could blame her? If he had been able to, he'd run away from himself too. But he had to get it out, to make her understand just how dangerous he was. His voice came out a whisper. "Killing him made me feel… good, Dani. So. Fucking. Good." It was the best he could do to describe the dreamlike sensation of being invincible that had come over him that night, the feeling that had made him acutely aware of the darkness that existed inside of him. The darkness that he had since been fighting, scared to death of what might happen if he ever let it out again… Like he'd done yesterday.

Clenching his fists and holding himself completely rigid, Nico waited for Dani to pull back her hand and move away from him. Instead, he felt her arms come around his waist as she closed the distance between them, hugging him closely from behind, resting her forehead between his shoulder blades. He had been so sure that she would turn away from him, that his brains refused to process her reaction at first. Still waiting for her to turn around and run, he could only stand there with his eyes closed. But she didn't run. She just released a trembling sigh and held on to him tighter.

* * *

Dani felt the strong urge to go put her boots back on. But not so that she could run away, which she knew Nico probably was probably expecting her to do right now. No, she wanted to go kick the people that had made him go through all that where it hurt real bad, and that would work so much better with her boots on. Those people were the ones that had made the wonderful man that she was holding on to think that he actually enjoyed taking the lives of others. He'd had this misconception in his head for so long now that it had become the truth he lived by. She desperately wanted to make him see that it was a lie instead… But how?

When she felt him shift in her arms, she brought her head up and loosened her hold on him, thinking he needed space again. He turned around, but he didn't move away. Instead he gave her a slightly confused look, as if wondering what she was still doing here. "I'm not planning on going anywhere, Nico, so you can relax now. You're still not scaring me." She went up on her toes and gave him a soft kiss. "See?"

Nico released a heavy sigh. The confusion in his eyes didn't fade. "You were scared. When you saw me with Cutler. You knew I was gonna kill him."

She needed to be very careful in her response now, Dani knew that. She couldn't simply deny the facts he had just stated. She kept looking in his eyes, hoping he would see the truth in hers. "Nico… I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't scared then. And you're right, I did realize that you were going to kill Troy, but…" He wanted to say something then, but she put her finger over his mouth. "Hear me out. I was not afraid of you. Not even for a single moment. What scared me in that moment was the thought of what killing Troy would do to you. How it would affect you. Because despite what you believe, I know you are not a cold-blooded killer." His mouth twisted into a bitter smile when she said that, and her heart ached for him. _How to make him see that he's really not?_ She sighed and went over the things he had told her, trying to find something in there that could help convince him. _I wanted to kill him… I couldn't stop… It felt good…_ Inspiration struck her, and she didn't need to think twice before going with her guts. "Tell me, why did you want to kill Troy so badly?"

His brow furrowed as if the question surprised him. "You don't know?" Well, of course she did, but she was trying to make a point here. So she just tilted her head to one side and raised an eyebrow at him. He looked down and brought a hand up to his forehead. "Dani… I thought I'd lost you. That bastard pulled the trigger and I saw you fall and I…" She heard his breath catch and saw a shiver go through him. "I just… snapped. I knew I had to kill him."

"Then why did you stop?" That brought his head back up quickly. "I mean, if you wanted to kill him that bad – why not just go for it?" Dani saw the shock in his eyes at the challenge in her tone and she took great care to keep her own expression neutral. If she played this right, it could be the first step in helping him see the truth about himself. She held her breath for his reply.

"I didn't stop. That's the whole point – you stopped me. If you hadn't…" His voice trailed off and he shook his head.

"Really." She injected more than a hint of disbelief in her voice, making him frown. "So let me get this straight. Marshall Pittman, a trained Navy SEAL, couldn't stop you from killing… But I could? A therapist whose entire combat experience consists of taking one self defense class years ago – and one kidnapping experience?" Crossing her arms, she waited for him to come up with an answer to that. She could almost hear the wheels in his head turning as he opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again when nothing came out. When his confusion became too much for her to bear, she stepped up to him and cupped his cheek. Allowing her voice to go soft and compassionate again, she carefully phrased her next question. "Nico… have you ever considered the possibility that what happened in Iraq might not have been about you being a ruthless killer as much as it was about you letting your survival instinct take over?"

Nico averted his eyes. "I wish… But I know it wasn't. Because if that's true, then how come it felt so damn good?"

"Well, I actually think there's a good explanation for that," Dani said quietly. His eyes came back to hers. "But before I tell you, I need to ask you one more question – and you have to think it through before you answer me. Okay?"

"Sure…" he said, but he didn't sound very sure.

"How did choking Troy make you feel?" When he immediately opened his mouth to reply, she put her finger over it again. "No – I said think about it, remember? Did it feel exactly the same as twenty years ago? Or was it different?"

Nico leaned against the window, raising a hand to his forehead again. She heard him release a sigh, after which he was quiet for a long time. Dani walked to the couch and sat down on the armrest, giving him some space. When he looked up again, his brow was furrowed in confusion. "You're right… It felt different – I hadn't even realized until now."

She nodded, almost sure now that she was on the right track, but realizing at the same time that _almost_ wasn't good enough. "How was it different? Can you explain?"

He thought about it for a minute. "I… I wanted to kill him for what he had done to you, but…" He shook his head as if he didn't know how to go on.

Dani got up and went to him, took both his hands in hers. "But actually doing it didn't make you feel good. At all. Am I right?" He nodded slowly, questions written all over his face. She quietly released her breath and smiled at him. "Nico, I think it wasn't the act of killing that guard twenty years ago that made you feel so good. I think it was a biological reaction. The difference between then and now being that you weren't in any physical pain yesterday." He raised his eyebrows at that, and she realized she was going too fast. "Those people in Iraq – they… tortured you, right?" She had to force the word from her throat and when she saw the answer in his eyes she again felt the need to go kick someone. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, she continued. "When in a lot of pain, the human body reacts by releasing extra endorphins. They act like morphine and suppress the pain. But they are also known as the feelgood hormone. They can make you feel high and euphoric – like when you're on drugs. Sound familiar?"

"Yeah, but…" His eyes were cautious and he seemed to be weighing his words. "You really think it could be that… simple? I got high on endorphins?"

Dani released his hands and raised her own to his face. "I wasn't there, so I can't tell you with absolute certainty. But, based on all the things you told me tonight, I'd say that it's a very likely scenario." She went up on her toes, bringing her face within kissing distance. "Besides, you keep forgetting that I know what kind of man you are," she whispered. Then she closed the distance and kissed him. It was meant to be a short, comforting kiss, but when she wanted to pull back he stopped her by bringing his arms around her, holding her close to him, parting her lips with his tongue. As she slipped her arms around his neck, Dani became aware of the tension in his shoulders again. She broke the kiss and stepped back, taking his hand. She smiled at him and led him to the bedroom, where she set about making that tension disappear while also showing him exactly how much she loved him.

* * *

Long after Dani had fallen asleep in his arms, her head once again resting on his chest, Nico was still awake and staring at the ceiling, lost in memories and wondering at the foreign sense of cautious hope that had settled in his heart. For the first time in years, he tried to look at the young Navy SEAL choking the life right out of another human being objectively, desperately wanting to believe that he had been wrong about that guy – that he was less of a monster than he'd come to believe over the years. He even allowed himself to start wondering a little if maybe there was a chance that younger version of himself could actually be… forgiven for what he'd done? Or was that… Dani turned to her other side then, her movement interrupting his line of thought. Nico found himself rolling with her, not wanting to lose the feel of her body against his. He sighed heavily, realizing he felt too exhausted to do any more soul searching right now. But he couldn't sleep here – there would be nightmares. So he'd stay here with her for just a few more minutes before he would move his ass to the couch… Before he had even finished that thought, his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep.

**A/N: No cliffhanger this time. But this is also NOT the end of this story - there's still some unfinished business to be resolved. I'll try to update as soon as I can!**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews on chapter 19. As you may have noticed, I was kind of nervous when I posted that, so it was good to read that you liked it. Now, as for this one… After all the intense drama that has been going on in the last ten chapters or so, I figured our favorite couple could use some breathing room. This is the result. Enjoy!**

Chapter twenty

Dani lay on her side, a soft smile on her face. She felt like she could study the sleeping man next to her for hours. The morning light coming in through the window divided his face into contrasting planes of light and dark, which struck her as fitting in light of his personality and the secrets he harbored. But sleep had smoothened the hard lines of tension that had been in his face the night before. In fact, she didn't think she'd ever seen him this relaxed before. She longed to touch him, but he was sleeping so peacefully that she really didn't want to disturb him. Stretching her sore muscles, she decided to go take a shower instead.

Getting up as quietly as she could, she slipped on Nico's shirt again and stepped into the bathroom. She couldn't help being a little impressed by the luxuriously decorated room. The black tiles on the floor and the dark grey ones covering the walls should have made it look dark in here, but the large frosted window in the wall behind the whirlpool let in more than enough daylight. The sleek and expensive-looking white furniture did the rest. A T-shirt lay crumpled on the floor, the only thing out of place in the otherwise neat and tidy room. Because Dani just couldn't help herself she picked it up and folded it, then put it on the sink.

One large corner was separated from the rest of the room by a glass door. Opening the door she found herself staring at six showerheads that were mounted to the wall in the back and angled straight at her – and none overhead. She took off Nico's shirt, hung it on a hook and stepped into the shower. "This should be interesting," she mumbled, studying a chrome handle that she suspected would operate the shower. She turned it. And could only barely hold back a surprised shriek when water came streaming down on her from above, instead of from the back of the shower as she had expected. Looking up, she saw that the water came from what appeared to be a shiny metal panel that was mounted to the ceiling. Wow – a ceiling shower? She'd heard about those, but had never expected to actually use one… Not that she was complaining, of course. She soon found out that the jets on the wall were operated by the button underneath the shower handle. Closing her eyes, she sighed in contentment as she let the water massage her body and wash away all the worry and anxiety of the past week.

Feeling relaxed and refreshed, Dani tiptoed back into the bedroom to get her clothes. Nico was still sleeping. She couldn't help but be a little amazed by the fact that he'd slept right here with her the entire night instead of moving to a guestroom or the living room sofa. And he didn't seem to have had any nightmares either. That struck her as kind of a miracle, considering the memories he had shared with her. She realized that he still had a long way to go in coming to terms with those memories and that this would probably not be the end of his nightmares either, but she was happy that he had at least taken the first step on the road to recovery. Putting on her jeans, she wondered if he would be open to the possibility of therapy. Not with her of course, given the ethical issues that would raise, but she did know a few other good therapists that might be able to help him out. Doctor Gunner maybe? Hm, might not be such a good idea, given the things she'd shared about Nico with him… Well, she'd think about it a bit more before bringing it up with Nico. That would also give him some time to get used to the idea that opening up to her had been the right thing to do… Her stomach rumbled then, reminding her that she hadn't eaten nearly enough pizza the previous night to suffice for the amount of physical exertion that had ensued – however pleasurable that exertion had been. She was starving. Once again deciding to let Nico sleep a little longer, she went to the kitchen in search of food.

Dani hadn't paid any attention to her surroundings the night before – at least no more than absolutely necessary. So she hadn't really prepared for walking into a kitchen that seemed to have come straight from the pages of a high-end interior design catalogue. She stopped in her tracks just inside and took it all in. With its smooth and shiny surfaces and expensive-looking appliances it made her own kitchen look cheap and oldfashioned in comparison. How had Nico been able to afford all this – not to mention the bathroom? And did he even cook in here? The kitchen looked like it had never been used… Shaking her head, Dani opened the refrigerator door to see if he had anything edible in there. Turned out that he had, in fact the fridge was better stocked than her own. Feeling like she could eat a horse she decided to go for an omelette instead. She took out three eggs, turned around to go look for a frying pan – and then dropped the eggs to the floor with a little shriek at the unexpected feel of something warm brushing her ankles. Looking down, she found a black cat sniffing the broken eggs, then giving her a slightly accusatory glance. "Meow," it said, which Dani assumed was cat-speak for _Now look what you've done_. Then the cat raised its tail and strode away in the direction of the bedroom, leaving her with the mess.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too…" Dani muttered as she began searching for salt and a wet cloth.

* * *

Nico woke up to the sounds of Dani rummaging around in his kitchen and smiled at the thought of her feeling comfortable enough around his place to start breakfast without waking him up first. He could get used to that, he thought as he stretched and yawned. Sitting up, he saw Onyx walking into the room. The cat jumped up on the bed, tail straight up and trembling in greeting. "Goodmorning – I was beginning to wonder where you'd disappeared to," Nico said, petting him. Onyx stared up at him adoringly for all of a heartbeat. Then the usual headbutting, meowing and purring in order to get Nico to feed him ensued and he jumped off the bed again, going to sit by the door with an impatient stare on his face.

Nico got up and quickly put on jeans and a T-shirt before walking into the kitchen barefoot, Onyx leading the way. Entering the kitchen he saw Dani looking in the fridge and he just stood there for a moment, enjoying the sight of her in those jeans and the red tanktop, her hair falling down her back, leaving a slightly wet spot where it touched the top. So she wasn't just feeling comfortable around his kitchen but had also showered. Again, the thought put a smile on his face – but he was also a bit surprised that he had slept through all this. It occurred to him then that he should have woken up on the couch instead of in bed too, and he frowned slightly. He must have been more exhausted than he'd thought last night. But he didn't remember having any nightmares, so maybe he should stop worrying about it for now. He'd be more careful next time though.

Nico was just about to make his presence known to Dani when she turned around and shrieked in surprise when she saw him standing there. "God! Nico! When will you stop sneaking up on me?" Then he thought he heard her mutter something about saving the eggs this time, before she walked over to the counter and very carefully put three eggs down on it. She turned around, put her hands on her hips and squinted at him. "I would have made you an omelette too, but your cat ruined that."

He couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice. "Goodmorning to you too." Walking over to her, he gave her a quick kiss. "So, you've met Onyx? You should feel honored. He's usually very shy around strangers."

"You mean sneaky, right?" She directed her squint at Onyx, then looked back at him. "I hadn't figured you for a cat person."

For a brief moment, he considered telling her that he hadn't been much of a pet person at all before he'd joined the Navy. But he decided against it, since he didn't want to ruin the good mood he was in. So he just shrugged. "Cats rule."

She released a surprised chuckle. "Cats rule? What are you, a teenager?" Nico's stomach picked that moment to rumble loudly, and Dani nodded once. "Yep. Definitely a teenager. I remember that sound from Ray Jay… Oh!" She clapped a hand over her mouth. "Have you seen my phone? Ray Jay must be worried sick about me!" She stepped past him and hurriedly walked out of the kitchen. "And don't you dare touch those eggs!" He heard her yell. "That omelette is mine!"

Unable to wipe the smile off his face Nico got out a frying pan and started making her the omelette she wanted so bad. Then he got himself some toast and cereal, figuring he could always go grab more to eat on his way to work later. When he was done, he walked into the living room to find Dani standing in front of the window with her phone pressed to her ear. He cleared his throat and she turned around. "Breakfast," he mouthed, holding up the plate with her omelette.

She held up a finger, then spoke into the phone. "Ray Jay, I said we'll talk about it later… I don't know, but TK's coming, so I won't be any later than two… Yes, I will go visit with Lindsay too, don't worry. Okay, gotta go now, bye!" Putting her phone down she smiled at him, but her earlier cheerfulness seemed to have faded. "So, you can cook. I was wondering about that…" Taking the plate from him she went back to the kitchen.

"Everything okay?" Nico asked, following her.

Sitting down on one of the bar stools by the kitchen island, she sighed. "Yeah, sure, Ray Jay was just worried about me being gone all night. Guess I can't blame him. You know, given everything that's happened." She avoided looking at him and took a bite of her breakfast. "Oh, this is really good," she said after swallowing the food. She quickly took another bite, still not looking at him.

Something was definitely going on with her, and suddenly he felt a little nervous. "Dani. What's wrong?"

Sighing, she put down her fork and finally looked at him again. Her eyes had the guarded look in them that Nico remembered all too well from their time at V3, before he'd told her about his involvement with the FBI. "Well, he… He told me about Paris," she said.

Nico felt his brow furrow. _Paris?_ He had no clue what she was talking about, although he had the feeling that she thought he knew. "Can you be a bit more specific?"

She eyed him suspiciously, then seemed to decide that he really didn't have a clue and told him what she meant. "He told me you were in Paris last year – and that you tried to buy him off."

"What? Why would I do that?" Nico asked, but he was beginning to understand what Ray Jay must have told her.

She raised her eyebrows. "You tell me. You're the one that supposedly offered him, and I quote, a shitload of money to get his ass back home." Her fingers drew quotation marks in the air.

Nico couldn't believe it. "That's what he told you?" She nodded and he pinched the bridge of his nose, not sure where to begin explaining this. "Look, Dani… That's not what happened – exactly."

She frowned at him. "So you're saying Ray Jay's lying?"

"No, I'm saying he must have misunderstood. Or something." _Why would Ray Jay tell her something like that?_ He shook his head and sighed. "Let's eat first, okay? Then I'll tell you everything."

He watched her consider it for a moment before she picked up her fork again. "Okay. But you better really tell me everything. Because as much as I love you, I'm done with the secrets, Nico." She put a piece of omelette in her mouth and started chewing on it, her brow furrowed. They finished their breakfast in silence. Well, Nico thought as he ate the toast that had seemed appealing before but now tasted like cardboard, at least she still loved him…

* * *

Dani sat on the couch drumming her fingers on her knee while Nico was busy loading his dishwasher and feeding his cat – and making coffee, judging by the smell of it. Good, she could use some caffeine. This morning had started out so wonderful, and now the tension between them seemed to be back in full force. He hadn't denied offering Ray Jay money… But she had the sneaking suspicion that Ray Jay hadn't told her the whole truth either. She sighed. What was it with men keeping secrets from her?  
She looked up when Nico came in, carrying two mugs of coffee that he put down on the coffee table before he sat down beside her. Dani crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at him. "Dani, what exactly did Ray Jay tell you?" He asked after a few moments of silence.

"He said you came to Paris to offer him money so he would stay away from Juliette. Which I think is weird, because if I recall correctly, you told me that the FBI came to you right after you walked out of the Hawks stadium on the night Ray Jay left home. So, tell me…" She wasn't gonna mention Gabrielle, she wasn't gonna mention Gabrielle, she wasn't… "Was the FBI okay with you flying off to go meet Gabrielle Pittman?" _Darn!_ Dani sighed and held up her hands. "Sorry, forget that I asked that – none of my business."

He frowned. "Gabrielle? What does she have to do with this?" He sounded genuinely confused.

"Well, Ray Jay said…" Dani's voice trailed off and she frowned as she tried to remember exactly what her son had said about Gabrielle. _Juliette's mom was in Paris too, you know. When he was there._ Yes, that was it. He hadn't said anything about them actually being there together. "Wait. Are you saying that… you didn't go there for Gabrielle? That it was just a coincidence that she was there too?"

Nico glanced away from her and she heard him take a deep breath. "I didn't even know she was there at the time. The reason I went to Paris…" He released his breath, seemed to brace himself and looked her in the eye, his voice going soft when he spoke again. "The reason I went there is that I wanted to talk to Ray Jay. Trust me, Gabrielle was the furthest thing from my mind at the time. You wanna know why?" Dani nodded, unable to look away from the earnest look in his eyes. He took her hand. "Because all I could think of was you, Dani." He looked down at their joined hands and shrugged slightly. "That night at the stadium… I saw you kiss Matt, and…"

Her eyebrows shot up when he said that. He'd seen that? Well, that explained a lot. She cleared her throat. "I-i'm sorry you saw that. No, wait, let me rephrase that. In hindsight I'm sorry that I did that, actually… But what does me kissing Matt have to do with anything?"

He smiled a little and raised their hands to his lips, placing a soft kiss on her knuckles. "Well, as much as it hurt me to see it, that's also when I realized that all I wanted was for you to be happy – and you weren't."

Dani released the breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding as he lowered their hands again. She had to swallow a few times before she could speak. "And you thought that… what, that leaving was the way to make me happy?" That would be so like him…

He shook his head. "No. I figured that getting your son back home was the way to make you happy."

Dani frowned when his words triggered a memory. About a week after he'd left, Ray Jay had called her from Paris for the first time. It had been an awkward conversation, with him giving only one word answers to most of her questions. In the end, she'd lost her patience and asked him why he had even bothered calling if he didn't really want to talk to her. His answer had been a bit weird. _It was… Pointed out to me that I made you unhappy. You know, leaving the way I did. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for that._ She even remembered thinking that Juliette must have more sense of responsibility than Dani had given her credit for. Shaking her head she focused on the here and now again, still trying to process what Nico had just told her. "You went all the way to Paris. To make me happy. After you saw me…"

He shrugged. "Figured it was the least I could do after turning your world upside down… But just so you know, I never offered him money. I just told him how unhappy you were and gave him the… advice to get his ass back home. Told him he'd be better off going to college here. Then I offered him a job."

Dani's jaw dropped. "You did what?"

"Well, he said he didn't have any college money, so I figured he could use the job to earn some." Nico smirked. "Kid told me to go to hell, and that he already had a job. He's a lot like his mother, you know. Too stubborn for his own good." He tugged on her hand and she let him pull her closer to him, feeling a goofy grin coming on her lips. "Good thing I've got a thing for stubborn women," he muttered, before kissing her thouroughly.

Dani gladly kissed him back – and they would have done a lot more than kissing if her phone hadn't started buzzing on the coffee table right about then. Reluctantly she let him go and reached for the darn thing. It was Lindsay, asking her how she felt and when she was coming to the hospital. Looking at the time, Dani was shocked to realize that it was close to noon already. She told Lindsay she was on her way and hung up, turning back to the man she loved. "Sorry – gotta go," she said. "Wanna come over tonight? We can have dinner with Ray Jay. You know, talk things out?"

Nico smiled ruefully. "Wish I could… But duty calls. Lot of catching up to do at work."

Dani squinted at him. "You're not thinking of running away again, are you? Because I know where you live now, so it won't do you no good."

He shook his head and pulled her close again. "Trust me, I'm more than aware of that, Doctor… So no. No running, you have my word." He sealed it with a quick kiss. Then he smiled at her. "Actually… I was gonna ask you if you were interested in a second date with me. Tomorrow night, maybe?"

"Mm, sounds great," she murmured. Then she kissed him again.

**A/N: Hm, sounds like the happy ending you've been waiting for, doesn't it? Well, here's a surprise for you… I have not one, but two more chapters planned before this is really over! There are after all, still some more questions left – like where did Nico get his money? What about his private jet? And whatever happened to Abby Bruce after Dani and Nico saved her sister? You will find out!**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter twenty-one

_No running, you have my word_. Nico's voice sounded in Dani's mind as she frowned at her phone that was sitting on the bed. She hadn't heard from him since she'd left his apartment yesterday. She had tried not to worry. After all, he had said he had a lot of work to do. But she couldn't help thinking that it was beginning to feel a lot like deja vu. Because him not calling her wasn't the only thing that bothered her. She had called him a couple of times over the past thirty hours, and he hadn't answered any of those calls either. He could have at least sent her a text to tell her he was busy, right? An hour ago, she had decided to go get dressed for their date, because she refused to let herself believe that he was gonna stand her up – or that he had run again. He had given her his word and she trusted him. Period. After one last look in the mirror at the silky burgundy dress she had picked to wear, she grabbed her phone of the bed and went downstairs.

Ray Jay was sitting at the kitchen table, working on his laptop. "Another date?" He asked, looking up. He didn't sound all too happy about the idea, but after the long talk they'd had last night that didn't come as a surprise to Dani. He had admitted that he had misread the situation in Paris, but he had also remained adamant in his low opinion of Nico. Dani was really beginning to wonder what exactly Juliette had told him. She was just about to ask him, when he sighed. "Mom, just so you know… I really hope I'm wrong about Careles, okay?"

Well, it wasn't exactly a vote of confidence, but it was a start, Dani figured. "Thank you, honey." She smiled at her son tentatively. "So, do you have any exciting plans for the evening?"

His own smile was just as tentative. "I promised Linds that I would come visit with her again. She said she also had some friends coming that want to know what living in Paris is like." He rolled his eyes. "But I think she's just saying that because she wants to try and hook me up with one of them."

Just when Dani was about to reply, her phone buzzed. She quickly unlocked the device, walking into the family room for some privacy. "Hey Nico," she said, trying to keep her tone light. Why was he calling her instead of picking her up?

"Hey… Sorry I fell out of touch. I was handling a… situation for a client." Nico was silent for a heartbeat, then cleared his throat. "So, we still on for tonight?"

She hadn't been aware of the tension in her shoulders but now she felt them relax. It made keeping her tone light much easier this time. "I should hope so – I'm all dressed up, you know," she replied.

"Well, in that case… There should be a limo in your driveway right about now."

"Hey, mom? Did you know there's a limo in the driveway?" Ray Jay's voice came from the kitchen almost simultaneously.

Dani rolled her eyes, but felt a smile tugging at her mouth. "Okay, so there's a limo in my driveway," she said into the phone. "And you probably expect me to get in, so I will… But this better not be anything like the last time you sent me a limo, mister." While talking, she walked through the kitchen to the front door, waving her hand at Ray Jay who gave her a smile in return.

Nico chuckled. "Or else you'll slap me again?"

"You better believe it." Stepping outside, she saw the driver of the limo already holding the door open for her. She hurried towards him and smiled in greeting, then got in. "So… where's this limo taking me?" She asked Nico.

Again, he chuckled. "Just sit tight and you'll see soon enough, Doctor. Patience is a virtue, you know. See you in an hour or so." With that he hung up, leaving Dani to frown at the phone – but not for long, because it is hard to frown when there is a huge smile on your face.

* * *

An hour or so later the limo came to a stop. The driver got out, but Dani barely noticed that because she was too busy trying to make sense of what she saw through the window: Nico, standing by the open door of a small white airplane, a confident smile on his face. First a limo, now a plane – surely this must be one of her crazy dreams again, right? She pinched her arm. _Ouch_. Nope, not a dream… Then the driver momentarily blocked her view as he opened the door for her and she blinked. Okay, only one way to find out what was going on here, she figured. Taking a deep breath she got of the car and began walking towards Nico. She felt butterflies take flight in her stomach when his smile widened into a sexy grin as she came closer and she couldn't not return his grin. "You chartered a plane?" She asked when she reached him, a bit surprised that her voice didn't sound all shaky and breathless.

Nico glanced at the plane, then back at her, his eyebrows slightly raised. "I didn't charter it – it's mine."

Dani tilted her head, speechless until she realized that he was probably just kidding. She started smiling to let him know she was on to him, but felt the smile fade when she noticed the serious expression on his face. Wait. "You own a plane?" This time, she did sound a bit shaky.

"Well, technically I own a company that owns a plane, but yes." The grin came back on his face, making him look like a boy showing off his favorite toy.

Dani squinted at him, still not quite sure what to believe. "You mean the security company that you started… when, six weeks ago?" No company could be that profitable in such a short amount of time, could it?

Nico nodded. "That's the one." The grin faded from his face as he said it. "But I didn't start it. Marshall did, almost nineteen years ago. Then he made me partner."

Dani remembered him saying something about that when they'd had lunch together that day she'd run into him outside the DA's office. "And when he died…"

"He left me the company. And the jet." He took her hand and pulled her in for a quick kiss. "So, Doctor, you feel like flying tonight?" He murmured then.

"Depends," she replied, gently wiping her thumb across his lower lip.

He frowned. "On what?"

She held back the smile that was tugging at her lips. "If I get on that plane, will you stop calling me Doctor… Dominic?"

Nico winced a little. "I'd kinda hoped you'd forgotten about that."

She gave him an innocent look, still biting her lips to keep from smiling. "Why? I like Dominic." _Better than Eugene, anyway_.

"I like Nico," he stated.

Her smile broke through. "Remember that next time you wanna call me Doctor."

"Point taken – Danielle."

Rolling her eyes at that, she let him escort her up the stairs and into the plane. "Oh, hello," she said when a pilot stepped out of the cockpit just as she reached the top of the stairs.

"Good evening, Doctor Santino, and welcome on board. I'm Colin Moore. Nice to meet you." They shook hands and Moore nodded at Nico. "Mr. Careles. We'll be ready for take off in about ten minutes. ETA at STS will be around nine tonight – local time of course."

Dani frowned as she listened. _STS? Local time?_ Why did the sound of that make her feel slightly nervous all of a sudden? "Uh, Nico? Where are we going, exactly?"

Nico nodded his thanks at Moore, who went back into the cockpit. Then he ushered her to one of the luxury cream leather seats. "I thought you might like to go taste some very exclusive wine," he said, sitting down next to her.

"Okay… But we could have gone to some wine bar in Manhattan for that… So again, where are you taking me?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You won't find this wine in Manhattan." He put his finger over her lips when she would have told him to stop with the vague answers already. "I really want you to taste it and hear your opinion on it. So I figured, why not go taste it where it's made – on a small vineyard in Sonoma Valley?" His mouth was smiling a little, but his eyes were all serious.

"S-sonoma Valley…" she stuttered, her mind reeling. "Wait. California?" That was like a five hour flight, wasn't it? And then they had to fly all the way back too… And all for some wine? Not that she didn't enjoy a good wine, but… Sonoma Valley?

He was still giving her that serious look and she got the feeling that this was somehow important to him. "Well, I figured that we could use a little R and R after all that's happened lately," he said.

"R and R?" Dani squinted, feeling her stomach clench. "A-as in… vacation? I thought we were going on a date – I can't just fly off for a vacation! What about Lindsay and Ray Jay?"

Taking her hands, he gave her a reassuring smile. "Dani, relax. You know I would never ask you to leave your kids alone for an extended period of time. We'll be back by tomorrow night. And in the meantime I have arranged some company for Lindsay and Ray Jay."

_Oh boy_. "Don't tell me you got Xeno to babysit them," she told him, making him chuckle.

"I called your mother. I believe she's bringing your sister with her." Dani closed her eyes on a groan as she imagined her mother and Ronnie having a field day with this – responsible controlfreak Dani, abandoning her kids to go off on an impulsive trip with some wealthy playboy… Or that's what they would probably make of it. She would probably not hear the end of it for years to come…

"Dani?" Nico's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Should I go tell Colin that we're not flying tonight?" She opened her eyes to find him giving her a worried look. "It's okay, you know. I can show you the vineyard some other time." He started to get up.

Making a split-second decision, Dani put her hand on his arm to stop him. "No. Don't."

He looked back at her. "You sure about that?"

She took a deep breath and nodded. "It sounds wonderful, really. It's just…" She shrugged and gave him a slightly apologetic smile. "You know – the limo, the plane, and now this… What's next, you gonna tell me you own the vineyard too?"

"Well, as a matter of fact I do."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course you do." But despite her wry tone and her stomach still slightly clenching with nervousness, she couldn't help feeling excited at discovering this new side to him. So she relaxed into her seat as best she could and fastened her seatbelt, smiling at him. "Well then – why don't you tell me all about this vineyard on the way there?"

* * *

The limo that had driven them from Sonoma County Airport to his vineyard pulled up in front of the house. Nico got out and quickly walked around to open the door for Dani. He inhaled deeply and the scent of early summer filled his nostrils, making the stress that living in the city brought with it fade a little. He came here whenever he felt the need to recharge, and a visit had been long overdue. The last time must have been – a year ago? He mentally shook his head. No, even longer. It was after TK got shot, but before Marshall died, so that made it… A gasp came from Dani, and he focused on the here and now again.

She was staring at the house, her eyes wide. "Oh, Nico, it's beautiful," she whispered. There was genuine delight on her face as she too, closed her eyes, inhaled deeply and let out a big sigh. "And so peaceful."

He watched as subtle lines of tension faded from her face and he felt a smile touch his lips. His heart felt lighter than it had since the jet had taken off. During their flight he'd been worrying on and off if whisking her away like this had been such a good idea after all. She'd seemed so… overwhelmed at first, and the last thing he wanted to do was make her feel like she wasn't in control. After all, he knew how scary that feeling could be, he thought, putting his arm around her shoulders and walking her up to the steps that led up to the front patio. "Wait till you see it in the morning," he told her in response to her first remark. He had fallen for the house with its stacked-stone walls and panoramic windows the moment he'd first laid eyes on it. And since that had been on an early spring morning, that would always remain his favorite time of day to look at it. He glanced at Dani then, whose eyes were wandering in all directions as if she was trying to take in everything at once, her lips still slightly parted, and he couldn't help but reconsider – the place looked even more beautiful now, in the evening, with her by his side.

Nico came to a stop on the patio and Dani looked up at him, questioning – but he saw her eyes darken a little the moment she noticed the look on his face. He brought up his hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, lightly touching the bruises that were visible there – although they were fading little by little. He leaned in and kissed her. Her lips were soft as they parted for him and her arms went around his neck, her fingers tangling in his hair, when he let his tongue explore her mouth. Her sweet taste made his head spin. He let his hands slide from her back to her sides and then to the front of her dress, lightly cupping her breasts. She let out a soft moan and arched into him. He pulled back slightly, breaking the kiss and putting his hands on her upper arms. "We should probably take this inside," he murmured when she slowly opened her eyes.

"I like the way you think," she replied, making him smile.

Once inside, Dani didn't seem to want to waste any time in admiring his house. As soon as Nico closed the door behind them she stepped back into his embrace, pressing her soft curves against his body in all the right places. Their kiss started out gentle, but soon grew more heated. Her breathing became just as erratic as his own when he put his hands back on her breasts, his thumbs skating lightly over her nipples. She let out that soft moan again and it was all he could do to not tear that sexy dress off her right there. But he wanted to take his time, so he pulled his mouth from hers. Taking her hand, he led her up the stairs to the master bedroom. "Why don't you get comfortable, I'll be right back," he said.

"Hurry up or I might get cold," she said. Then she turned around, wiggled her shoulders around a bit and somehow made her dress slide down her body until it was pooling at her ankles, making his mouth go dry at the sight of her smooth skin now covered by nothing other than some scraps of burgundy satin.

Nico couldn't resist putting his arm around her waist from behind and kissing that magic spot at the junction of her neck and shoulder, making her shiver. "Don't worry, I'll warm you up." Letting her go, he left the room and hurried downstairs again, a smile on his lips. Although he suspected that wine tasting in the traditional sense was the furthest thing from both their minds right now, he had promised her wine, hadn't he?

Entering the bedroom again, carrying a bottle of his best red wine and two glasses on a tray, Nico found Dani lying on her back in the middle of his bed, her hair and eyes shimmering with the reflection of the soft light coming from the candles she had lit in his absence. The smile that came on her face when she saw his admiring gaze was sweet and a little shy – and he just couldn't stand being this far away from her. Putting the tray down on the nightstand he joined her on the bed, gathered her in his arms and pulling her on top of him. "You look amazing," he whispered. She brought her face down to his, her hair brushing his cheeks, and kissed him. For a while the only sounds in the room were the soft gasps and moans coming from both of them as their hands roamed everywhere, touching and stroking, exploring each other with infinite tenderness. Somehow her lingerie and his shirt seemed to vanish into thin air and the sensation of her smooth, warm skin against his own made Nico wish the same thing would happen to his pants. Just before Dani's nimble fingers reached his waistband however, he remembered his intentions of taking it slow tonight. He stopped her by rolling her to her back again. Before she could protest, he silenced her with another kiss. Then he left her to pour some wine in a glass.

She leaned up on her elbows, which did wonderful things to her breasts, tilted her head and squinted. "Really? You wanna drink wine – now?"

He drank some of his wine, hiding the smile that tugged at his mouth at her impatience. "I told you I wanted you to taste it." With that, he put the glass down again and went back to her. As soon as his tongue found its way into her mouth again, she released an appreciative moan.

"Oh, you're right – that is a delicious wine…" she whispered when the kiss ended. Her eyes lit up with a naughty twinkle. "I bet I can make it taste even better though." She pushed him away and went to get his glass. Gving him a teasing look she drank some wine, then dipped her finger in the glass. Nico's dick strained in his pants and his mind grew a little fuzzy at the sight of her tongue coming out to slowly lick her finger clean. "Oh – wait…" she gave him a sweet smile. "I have an even better idea…" Before he knew what was happening, she climbed back on the bed and straddled him. Then she dribbled some wine on his nipple, making him gasp at the unfamiliar sensation. She downed the last of the wine in the glass, leaned forward – and there was that tongue again, now licking him clean… Nico groaned, clenching his eyes shut. Bringing up his hands to frame her face he brought her head up and smashed his mouth to hers again. Taking it slow had just gone out the window.

Even through his pants Nico could feel how hot Dani was for him, and he needed to be inside her – now. Putting his hands on her hips he urged her to lift herself up a little, so he could open his pants, shove down his underpants and free himself. When he was done with that, he slid a finger inside her, causing her to throw her head back on a moan. She was more than ready for him and Nico wasted no more time. Pulling his finger out and grabbing her hips again, he thrust upwards at the same time she came down. Pleasure overtook his mind when he slid in to the hilt. Her hands pushed at his shoulders as she sat up a little straighter. They moaned in unison as they began to move slowly, his fingers digging into her hips, her nails digging into his shoulders. "Dani, I'm yours – take me," he echoed her words from the other night when he sensed her starting to climb the peak.

She stopped moving, holding his gaze with hers. Nico saw a look of wonder cross her face as she studied him and found the truth in his eyes. He was hers. He loved her, he trusted her. He surrendered all control to her. She started moving again, slowly at first, then picking up the pace and increasing the friction. He followed the rhythm she set up until her muscles clenched around him tightly when she came apart and he gladly followed her over the edge, holding himself rigid as he spent himself deep inside her. She collapsed on top of him, panting just as hard as he was.

Spent, they just held on to each other for a while, both of them basking in the sense of peace and quiet that came over them.

* * *

Dawn was breaking, setting the room in a golden glow, when Dani woke up. For a moment she just lay on her side with her eyes closed, memories of the previous night bringing a blissful smile on her lips. Slowly turning to her other side, she opened her eyes – and found Nico gone. She reached out to where he should have been and found the sheets cool, telling her that he'd been gone for a while. He was probably downstairs drinking coffee or something. Rolling to her back and stretching languidly, she decided to go look for him. Maybe he'd be interested in some morning lovema– Dani bolted upright when a hoarse scream pierced the air, coming from somewhere outside the room.

**A/N: OK, I just can't seem to make myself say goodbye to this story... That's why writing this chapter was a bit slow, I think. I told you last chapter that there were two more chapters left, but as it turns out, there may be a bit more than that. ****But I don't want to draw it out too long either**, so the end is still near! 

**Please tell me what you think, and thanks again for the reviews so far!**


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